History of the Conquest of Peru

(See also #1323, a slightly different version with footnotes)

History Of The Conquest Of Peru

by William Hickling Prescott

"Congestae cumulantur opes, orbisque rapinas Accipit."

Claudian, In Ruf., lib. i., v. 194.

"So color de religion

Van a buscar plata y oro

Del encubierto tesoro."

Lope De Vega, El Nuevo Mundo, Jorn. 1.

Preface

The most brilliant passages in the history of Spanish adventure in the

New World are undoubtedly afforded by the conquests of Mexico and

Peru--the two states which combined with the largest extent of empire a

refined social polity, and considerable progress in the arts of civilization.

Indeed, so prominently do they stand out on the great canvas of history,

that the name of the one, notwithstanding the contrast they exhibit in

their respective institutions, most naturally suggests that of the other; and

when I sent to Spain to collect materials for an account of the Conquest

of Mexico, I included in my researches those relating to the Conquest of

Peru.

The larger part of the documents, in both cases, was obtained from the

same great repository,--the archives of the Royal Academy of History at

Madrid; a body specially intrusted with the preservation of whatever may

serve to illustrate the Spanish colonial annals. The richest portion of its

collection is probably that furnished by the papers of Munoz. This

eminent scholar, historiographer of the Indies, employed nearly fifty

years of his life in amassing materials for a history of Spanish discovery

and conquest in America. For this, as he acted under the authority of the

government, every facility was afforded him; and public offices and

private depositories, in all the principal cities of the empire, both at home

and throughout the wide extent of its colonial possessions, were freely

opened to his inspection. The result was a magnificent collection of

manuscripts, many of which he patiently transscribed with his own hand.

But he did not live to reap the fruits of his persevering industry. The

first volume, relative to the voyages of Columbus, were scarcely finished

when he died; and his manuscripts, at least that portion of them which

have reference to Mexico and Peru, were destined to serve the uses of

another, an inhabitant of that New World to which they related.

Another scholar, to whose literary stores I am largely indebted, is Don

Martin Fernandez de Navarrette, late Director of the Royal Academy of

History. Through the greater part of his long life he was employed in

assembling original documents to illustrate the colonial annals. Many of

these have been incorporated in his great work, "Coleccion de los Viages

y Descubrimientos," which, although far from being completed after the

original plan of its author, is of inestimable service to the historian. In

following down the track of discovery, Navarrete turned aside from the

conquests of Mexico and Peru, to exhibit the voyages of his countrymen

in the Indian seas. His manuscripts, relating to the two former countries,

he courteously allowed to be copied for me. Some of them have since

appeared in print, under the auspices of his learned coadjutors, Salva and

Baranda, associated with him in the Academy; but the documents placed

in my hands form a most important contribution to my materials for the

present history.

The death of this illustrious man, which occurred some time after the

present work was begun, has left a void in his country not easy to be

filled; for he was zealously devoted to letters, and few have done more to

extend the knowledge of her colonial history. Far from an exclusive

solicitude for his own literary projects, he was ever ready to extend his

sympathy and assistance to those of others. His reputation as a scholar

was enhanced by the higher qualities which he possessed as a man,--by

his benevolence, his simplicity of manners, and unsullied moral worth.

My own obligations to him are large; for from the publication of my first

historical work, down to the last week of his life, I have constantly

received proofs from him of his hearty and most efficient interest in the

prosecution of my historical labors; and I now the more willingly pay

this well-merited tribute to his deserts, that it must be exempt from all

suspicion of flattery.

In the list of those to whom I have been indebted for materials, I must,

also, include the name of M. Ternaux-Compans, so well known by his

faithful and elegant French versions of the Munoz manuscripts; and that

of my friend Don Pascual de Gayangos, who, under the modest dress of

translation, has furnished a most acute and learned commentary on

Spanish Arabian history,--securing for himself the foremost rank in that

difficult department of letters, which has been illumined by the labors of

a Masdeu, a Casiri, and a Conde.

To the materials derived from these sources, I have added some

manuscripts of an important character from the library of the Escurial.

These, which chiefly relate to the ancient institutions of Peru, formed

part of the splendid collection of Lord Kingsborough, which has

unfortunately shared the lot of most literary collections, and been

dispersed since the death of its noble author. For these I am indebted to

that industrious bibliographer, Mr. O. Rich, now resident in London.

Lastly, I must not omit to mention my obligations, in another way, to my

friend Charles Folsom, Esq., the learned librarian of the Boston

Athenaeum; whose minute acquaintance with the grammatical structure

and the true idiom of our English tongue has enabled me to correct many

inaccuracies into which I had fallen in the composition both of this and

of my former works.

From these different sources I have accumulated a large amount of

manuscripts, of the most various character, and from the most authentic

sources; royal grants and ordinances, instructions of the Court, letters of

the Emperor to the great colonial officers, municipal records, personal

diaries and memoranda, and a mass of private correspondence of the

principal actors in this turbulent drama. Perhaps it was the turbulent

state of the country which led to a more frequent correspondence

between the government at home and the colonial officers. But,

whatever be the cause, the collection of manuscript materials in reference

to Peru is fuller and more complete than that which relates to Mexico; so

that there is scarcely a nook or corner so obscure, in the path of the

adventurer, that some light has not been thrown on it by the written

correspondence of the period. The historian has rather had occasion to

complain of the embarras des richesses; for, in the multiplicity of

contradictory testimony, it is not always easy to detect the truth, as the

multiplicity of cross-lights is apt to dazzle and bewilder the eye of the

spectator.

The present History has been conducted on the same general plan with

that of the Conquest of Mexico. In an Introductory Book, I have

endeavored to portray the institutions of the Incas, that the reader may be

acquainted with the character and condition of that extraordinary race,

before he enters on the story of their subjugation. The remaining books

are occupied with the narrative of the Conquest. And here, the subject, it

must be allowed, notwithstanding the opportunities it presents for the

display of character, strange, romantic incident, and picturesque scenery,

does not afford so obvious advantages to the historian, as the Conquest

of Mexico. Indeed, few subjects can present a parallel with that, for the

purposes either of the historian or the poet. The natural development of

the story, there, is precisely what would be prescribed by the severest

rules of art. The conquest of the country is the great end always in the

view of the reader. From the first landing of the Spaniards on the soil,

their subsequent adventures, their battles and negotiations, their ruinous

retreat, their rally and final siege, all tend to this grand result, till the

long series is closed by the downfall of the capital. In the march of

events, all moves steadily forward to this consummation. It is a

magnificent epic, in which the unity of interest is complete.

In the "Conquest of Peru," the action, so far as it is founded on the

subversion of the Incas, terminates long before the close of the narrative.

The remaining portion is taken up with the fierce feuds of the

Conquerors, which would seem, from their very nature, to be incapable

of being gathered round a central point of interest. To secure this, we

must look beyond the immediate overthrow of the Indian empire. The

conquest of the natives is but the first step, to be followed by the

conquest of the Spaniards,--the rebel Spaniards, themselves,--till the

supremacy of the Crown is permanently established over the country. It

is not till this period, that the acquisition of this Transatlantic empire can

be said to be completed; and, by fixing the eye on this remoter point, the

successive steps of the narrative will be found leading to one great result,

and that unity of interest preserved which is scarcely less essential to

historic than dramatic composition. How far this has been effected, in

the present work, must be left to the judgment of the reader.

No history of the conquest of Peru, founded on original documents, and

aspiring to the credit of a classic composition, like the "Conquest of

Mexico" by Solis, has been attempted, as far as I am aware, by the

Spaniards. The English possess one of high value, from the pen of

Robertson, whose masterly sketch occupies its due space in his great

work on America. It has been my object to exhibit this same story, in all

its romantic details; not merely to portray the characteristic features of

the Conquest, but to fill up the outline with the coloring of life, so as to

present a minute and faithful picture of the times. For this purpose, I

have, in the composition of the work, availed myself freely of my

manuscript materials, allowed the actors to speak as much as possible for

themselves, and especially made frequent use of their letters; for

nowhere is the heart more likely to disclose itself, than in the freedom of

private correspondence. I have made liberal extracts from these

authorities in the notes, both to sustain the text, and to put in a printed

form those productions of the eminent captains and statesmen of the

time, which are not very accessible to Spaniards themselves.

M. Amedee Pichot, in the Preface to the French translation of the

"Conquest of Mexico," infers from the plan of the composition, that I

must have carefully studied the writings of his countryman, M. de

Barante. The acute critic does me but justice in supposing me familiar

with the principles of that writer's historical theory, so ably developed in

the Preface to his "Ducs de Bourgogne." And I have had occasion to

admire the skilful manner in which he illustrates this theory himself, by

constructing out of the rude materials of a distant time a monument of

genius that transports us at once into the midst of the Feudal Ages,-and

this without the incongruity which usually attaches to a modernantique.

In like manner, I have attempted to seize the characteristic expression of

a distant age, and to exhibit it in the freshness of life. But in an essential

particular, I have deviated from the plan of the French historian. I have

suffered the scaffolding to remain after the building has been completed.

In other words, I have shown to the reader the steps of the process by

which I have come to my conclusions. Instead of requiring him to take

my version of the story on trust, I have endeavored to give him a reason

for my faith. By copious citations from the original authorities, and by

such critical notices of them as would explain to him the influences to

which they were subjected, I have endeavored to put him in a position

for judging for himself, and thus for revising, and, if need be, reversing,

the judgments of the historian. He will, at any rate, by this means, be

enabled to estimate the difficulty of arriving at truth amidst the conflict

of testimony; and he will learn to place little reliance on those writers

who pronounce on the mysterious past with what Fontenelle calls "a

frightful degree of certainty,"--a spirit the most opposite to that of the

true philosophy of history.

Yet it must be admitted, that the chronicler who records the events of an

earlier age has some obvious advantages in the store of manuscript

materials at his command,--the statements of friends, rivals, and enemies,

furnishing a wholesome counterpoise to each other; and also, in the

general course of events, as they actually occurred, affording the best

commentary on the true motives of the parties. The actor, engaged in the

heat of the strife, finds his view bounded by the circle around him and

his vision blinded by the smoke and dust of the conflict: while the

spectator, whose eye ranges over the ground from a more distant and

elevated point, though the individual objects may lose somewhat of their

vividness, takes in at a glance all the operations of the field. Paradoxical

as it may appear, truth rounded on contemporary testimony would seem,

after all, as likely to be attained by the writer of a later day, as by

contemporaries themselves.

Before closing these remarks, I may be permitted to add a few of a

personal nature. In several foreign notices of my writings, the author has

been said to be blind; and more than once I have had the credit of having

lost my sight in the composition of my first history. When I have met

with such erroneous accounts, I have hastened to correct them. But the

present occasion affords me the best means of doing so; and I am the

more desirous of this, as I fear some of my own remarks, in the Prefaces

to my former histories, have led to the mistake.

While at the University, I received an injury in one of my eyes, which

deprived me of the sight of it. The other, soon after, was attacked by

inflammation so severely, that, for some time, I lost the sight of that also;

and though it was subsequently restored, the organ was so much

disordered as to remain permanently debilitated, while twice in my life,

since, I have been deprived of the use of it for all purposes of reading

and writing, for several years together. It was during one of these

periods that I received from Madrid the materials for the "History of

Ferdinand and Isabella," and in my disabled condition, with my

Transatlantic treasures lying around me, I was like one pining from

hunger in the midst of abundance. In this state, I resolved to make the

ear, if possible, do the work of the eye. I procured the services of a

secretary, who read to me the various authorities; and in time I became

so far familiar with the sounds of the different foreign languages (to

some of which, indeed, I had been previously accustomed by a residence

abroad), that I could comprehend his reading without much difficulty.

As the reader proceeded, I dictated copious notes; and, when these had

swelled to a considerable amount, they were read to me repeatedly, till I

had mastered their contents sufficiently for the purposes of composition.

The same notes furnished an easy means of reference to sustain the text.

Still another difficulty occurred, in the mechanical labor of writing,

which I found a severe trial to the eye. This was remedied by means of a

writing-case, such as is used by the blind, which enabled me to commit

my thoughts to paper without the aid of sight, serving me equally well in

the dark as in the light. The characters thus formed made a near

approach to hieroglyphics; but my secretary became expert in the art of

deciphering, and a fair copy--with a liberal allowance for unavoidable

blunders--was transcribed for the 'use of the printer. I have described the

process with more minuteness, as some curiosity has been repeatedly

expressed in reference to my modus operandi under my privations, and

the knowledge of it may be of some assistance to others in similar

circumstances.

Though I was encouraged by the sensible progress of my work, it was

necessarily slow. But in time the tendency to inflammation diminished,

and the strength of the eye was confirmed more and more. It was at

length so far restored, that I could read for several hours of the day

though my labors in this way necessarily terminated with the daylight.

Nor could I ever dispense with the services of a secretary, or with the

writing-case; for, contrary to the usual experience, I have found writing a

severer trial to the eye than reading,--a remark, however, which does not

apply to the reading of manuscript; and to enable myself therefore, to

revise my composition more carefully, I caused a copy of the "History of

Ferdinand and Isabella" to be printed for my own inspection, before it

was sent to the press for publication. Such as I have described was the

improved state of my health during the preparation of the "Conquest of

Mexico"; and, satisfied with being raised so nearly to a level with the

rest of my species, I scarcely envied the superior good fortune of those

who could prolong their studies into the evening, and the later hours of

the night.

But a change has again taken place during the last two years. The sight

of my eye has become gradually dimmed, while the sensibility of the

nerve has been so far increased, that for several weeks of the last year I

have not opened a volume, and through the whole time I have not had the

use of it, on an average, for more than an hour a day. Nor can I cheer

myself with the delusive expectation, that, impaired as the organ has

become, from having been tasked, probably, beyond its strength, it can

ever renew its youth, or be of much service to me hereafter in my literary

researches. Whether I shall have the heart to enter, as I had proposed, on

a new and more extensive field of historical labor, with these

impediments, I cannot say. Perhaps long habit, and a natural desire to

follow up the career which I have so long pursued, may make this, in a

manner, necessary, as my past experience has already proved that it is

practicable.

From this statement--too long, I fear, for his patience--the reader, who

feels any curiosity about the matter, will understand the real extent of my

embarrassments in my historical pursuits. That they have not been very

light will be readily admitted, when it is considered that I have had but a

limited use of my eye, in its best state, and that much of the time I have

been debarred from the use of it altogether. Yet the difficulties I have

had to contend with are very far inferior to those which fall to the lot of a

blind man. I know of no historian, now alive, who can claim the glory of

having overcome such obstacles, but the author of "La Conquete de

l'Angleterre par les Normands"; who, to use his own touching and

beautiful language, "has made himself the friend of darkness"; and who,

to a profound philosophy that requires no light but that from within,

unites a capacity for extensive and various research, that might well

demand the severest application of the student.

The remarks into which I have been led at such length will, I trust, not be

set down by the reader to an unworthy egotism, but to their true source, a

desire to correct a misapprehension to which I may have unintentionally

given rise myself, and which has gained me the credit with some--far

from grateful to my feelings, since undeserved--of having surmounted

the incalculable obstacles which lie in the path of the blind man.

Boston, April 2, 1847.

History Of The Conquest Of Peru

by William Hickling Prescott

Book 1

Introduction

View Of The Civilization Of The Incas

Chapter 1

Physical Aspect Of The Country--Sources Of Peruvian Civilization--

Empire Of The Incas--Royal Family--Nobility

Of the numerous nations which occupied the great American continent at

the time of its discovery by the Europeans, the two most advanced in

power and refinement were undoubtedly those of Mexico and Peru. But,

though resembling one another in extent of civilization, they differed

widely as to the nature of it; and the philosophical student of his species

may feel a natural curiosity to trace the different steps by which these two

nations strove to emerge from the state of barbarism, and place

themselves on a higher point in the scale of humanity.--In a former work I

have endeavored to exhibit the institutions and character of the ancient

Mexicans, and the story of their conquest by the Spaniards. The present

will be devoted to the Peruvians; and, if their history shall be found to

present less strange anomalies and striking contrasts than that of the

Aztecs, it may interest us quite as much by the pleasing picture it offers of

a well-regulated government and sober habits of industry under the

patriarchal sway of the Incas.

The empire of Peru, at the period of the Spanish invasion, stretched along

the Pacific from about the second degree north to the thirty-seventh

degree of south latitude; a line, also, which describes the western

boundaries of the modern republics of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chili.

Its breadth cannot so easily be determined; for, though bounded

everywhere by the great ocean on the west, towards the east it spread out,

in many parts, considerably beyond the mountains, to the confines of

barbarous states, whose exact position is undetermined, or whose names

are effaced from the map of history. It is certain, however, that its breadth

was altogether disproportioned to its length.1

The topographical aspect of the country is very remarkable. A strip of

land, rarely exceeding twenty leagues in width, runs along the coast, and

is hemmed in through its whole extent by a colossal range of mountains,

which, advancing from the Straits of Magellan, reaches its highest

elevation-indeed, the highest on the American continent--about the

seventeenth degree south, 2 and, after crossing the line, gradually subsides

into hills of inconsiderable magnitude, as it enters the isthmus of Panama.

This is the famous Cordillera of the Andes, or "copper mountains," 3 as

termed by the natives, though they might with more reason have been

called "mountains of gold." Arranged sometimes in a single line, though

more frequently in two or three lines running parallel or obliquely to each

other, they seem to the voyager on the ocean but one continuous chain;

while the huge volcanoes, which to the inhabitants of the tableland look

like solitary and independent masses, appear to aim only like so many

peaks of the same vast and magnificent range. So immense is the scale on

which Nature works in these regions, that it is only when viewed from a

great distance, that the spectator can, in any degree, comprehend the

relation of the several parts to the stupendous whole. Few of the works of

Nature, indeed, are calculated to produce impressions of higher sublimity

than the aspect of this coast, as it is gradually unfolded to the eye of the

mariner sailing on the distant waters of the Pacific; where mountain is

seen to rise above mountain, and Chimborazo, with its glorious canopy of

snow, glittering far above the clouds, crowns the whole as with a celestial

diadem.4

The face of the country would appear to be peculiarly unfavorable to the

purposes both of agriculture and of internal communication. The sandy

strip along the coast, where rain never falls, is fed only by a few scanty

streams, that furnish a remarkable contrast to the vast volumes of water

which roll down the eastern sides of the Cordilleras into the Atlantic. The

precipitous steeps of the sierra, with its splintered sides of porphyry and

granite, and its higher regions wrapped in snows that never melt under the

fierce sun of the equator, unless it be from the desolating action of its own

volcanic fires, might seem equally unpropitious to the labors of the

husbandman. And all communication between the parts of the long-

extended territory might be thought to be precluded by the savage

character of the region, broken up by precipices, furious torrents, and

impassable quebradas,--those hideous rents in the mountain chain, whose

depths the eye of the terrified traveller, as he winds along his aerial

pathway, vainly endeavors to fathom.5 Yet the industry, we might almost

say, the genius, of the Indian was sufficient to overcome all these

impediments of Nature.

By a judicious system of canals and subterraneous aqueducts, the waste

places on the coast were refreshed by copious streams, that clothed them

in fertility and beauty. Terraces were raised upon the steep sides of the

Cordillera; and, as the different elevations had the effect of difference of

latitude, they exhibited in regular gradation every variety of vegetable

form, from the stimulated growth of the tropics, to the temperate products

of a northern clime; while flocks of llamas--the Peruvian sheep--wandered

with their shepherds over the broad, snow-covered wastes on the crests of

the sierra, which rose beyond the limits of cultivation. An industrious

population settled along the lofty regions of the plateaus, and towns and

hamlets, clustering amidst orchards and widespreading gardens, seemed

suspended in the air far above the ordinary elevation of the clouds. 6

Intercourse was maintained between these numerous settlements by means

of great roads which traversed the mountain passes, and opened an easy

communication between the capital and the remotest extremities of the

empire.

The source of this civilization is traced to the valley of Cuzco, the central

region of Peru, as its name implies.7 The origin of the Peruvian empire,

like the origin of all nations, except the very few which, like our own,

have had the good fortune to date from a civilized period and people, is

lost in the mists of fable, which, in fact, have settled as darkly round its

history as round that of any nation, ancient or modern, in the Old World.

According to the tradition most familiar to the European scholar, the time

was, when the ancient races of the continent were all plunged in

deplorable barbarism; when they worshipped nearly every object in nature

indiscriminately; made war their pastime, and feasted on the flesh of their

slaughtered captives. The Sun, the great luminary and parent of mankind,

taking compassion on their degraded condition, sent two of his children,

Manco Capac and Mama Oello Huaco, to gather the natives into

communities, and teach them the arts of civilized life. The celestial pair,

brother and sister, husband and wife, advanced along the high plains in

the neighborhood of Lake Titicaca, to about the sixteenth degree south.

They bore with them a golden wedge, and were directed to take up their

residence on the spot where the sacred emblem should without effort sink

into the ground. They proceeded accordingly but a short distance, as far

as the valley of Cuzco, the spot indicated by the performance of the

miracle, since there the wedge speedily sank into the earth and

disappeared for ever. Here the children of the Sun established their

residence, and soon entered upon their beneficent mission among the rude

inhabitants of the country; Manco Capac teaching the men the arts of

agriculture, and Mama Oello 8 initiating her own sex in the mysteries of

weaving and spinning. The simple people lent a willing ear to the

messengers of Heaven, and, gathering together in considerable numbers,

laid the foundations of the city of Cuzco. The same wise and benevolent

maxims, which regulated the conduct of the first Incas, 9 descended to

their successors, and under their mild sceptre a community gradually

extended itself along the broad surface of the table-land, which asserted

its superiority over the surrounding tribes. Such is the pleasing picture of

the origin of the Peruvian monarchy, as portrayed by Garcilasso de la

Vega, the descendant of the Incas, and through him made familiar to the

European reader.10

But this tradition is only one of several current among the Peruvian

Indians, and probably not the one most generally received. Another

legend speaks of certain white and bearded men, who, advancing from the

shores of Lake Titicaca, established an ascendancy over the natives, and

imparted to them the blessings of civilization. It may remind us of the

tradition existing among the Aztecs in respect to Quetzalcoatl, the good

deity, who with a similar garb and aspect came up the great plateau from

the east on a like benevolent mission to the natives. The analogy is the

more remarkable, as there is no trace of any communication with, or even

knowledge of, each other to be found in the two nations.11

The date usually assigned for these extraordinary events was about four

hundred years before the coming of the Spaniards, or early in the twelfth

century.12 But, however pleasing to the imagination, and however

popular, the legend of Manco Capac, it requires but little reflection to

show its improbability, even when divested of supernatural

accompaniments. On the shores of Lake Titicaca extensive ruins exist at

the present day, which the Peruvians themselves acknowledge to be of

older date than the pretended advent of the Incas, and to have furnished

them with the models of their architecture.13 The date of their

appearance, indeed, is manifestly irreconcilable with their subsequent

history. No account assigns to the Inca dynasty more than thirteen princes

before the Conquest. But this number is altogether too small to have

spread over four hundred years, and would not carry back the foundations

of the monarchy, on any probable computation, beyond two centuries and

a half,-an antiquity not incredible in itself, and which, it may be remarked,

does not precede by more than half a century the alleged foundation of the

capital of Mexico. The fiction of Manco Capac and his sister-wife was

devised, no doubt, at a later period, to gratify the vanity of the Peruvian

monarchs, and to give additional sanction to their authority by deriving it

from a celestial origin.

We may reasonably conclude that there existed in the country a race

advanced in civilization before the time of the Incas; and, in conformity

with nearly every tradition, we may derive this race from the

neighborhood of Lake Titicaca; 14 a conclusion strongly confirmed by the

imposing architectural remains which still endure, after the lapse of so

many years, on its borders. Who this race were, and whence they came,

may afford a tempting theme for inquiry to the speculative antiquarian.

But it is a land of darkness that lies far beyond the domain of history.15

The same mists that hang round the origin of the Incas continue to settle

on their subsequent annals; and, so imperfect were the records employed

by the Peruvians, and so confused and contradictory their traditions, that

the historian finds no firm footing on which to stand till within a century

of the Spanish conquest.16 At first, the progress of the Peruvians seems

to have been slow, and almost imperceptible. By their wise and temperate

policy, they gradually won over the neighboring tribes to their dominion,

as these latter became more and more convinced of the benefits of a just

and well-regulated government. As they grew stronger, they were enabled

to rely more directly on force; but, still advancing under cover of the same

beneficent pretexts employed by their predecessors, they proclaimed

peace and civilization at the point of the sword. The rude nations of the

country, without any principle of cohesion among themselves, fell one

after another before the victorious arm of the Incas. Yet it was not till the

middle of the fifteenth century that the famous Topa Inca Yupanqui,

grandfather of the monarch who occupied the throne at the coming of the

Spaniards, led his armies across the terrible desert of Atacama, and,

penetrating to the southern region of Chili, fixed the permanent boundary

of his dominions at the river Maule. His son, Huayna Capac, possessed of

ambition and military talent fully equal to his father's, marched along the

Cordillera towards the north, and, pushing his conquests across the

equator, added the powerful kingdom of Quito to the empire of Peru.17

The ancient city of Cuzco, meanwhile, had been gradually advancing in

wealth and population, till it had become the worthy metropolis of a great

and flourishing monarchy. It stood in a beautiful valley on an elevated

region of the plateau, which, among the Alps, would have been buried in

eternal snows, but which within the tropics enjoyed a genial and

salubrious temperature. Towards the north it was defended by a lofty

eminence, a spur of the great Cordillera; and the city was traversed by a

river, or rather a small stream, over which bridges of timber, covered with

heavy slabs of stone, furnished an easy means of communication with the

opposite banks. The streets were long and narrow; the houses low, and

those of the poorer sort built of clay and reeds. But Cuzco was the royal

residence, and was adorned with the ample dwellings of the great nobility;

and the massy fragments still incorporated in many of the modern edifices

bear testimony to the size and solidity of the ancient.18

The health of the city was promoted by spacious openings and squares, in

which a numerous population from the capital and the distant country

assembled to celebrate the high festivals of their religion. For Cuzco was

the "Holy City"; 19 and the great temple of the Sun, to which pilgrims

resorted from the furthest borders of the empire, was the most magnificent

structure in the New World, and unsurpassed, probably, in the costliness

of its decorations by any building in the Old.

Towards the north, on the sierra or rugged eminence already noticed, rose

a strong fortress, the remains of which at the present day, by their vast

size, excite the admiration of the traveller.20 It was defended by a single

wall of great thickness, and twelve hundred feet long on the side facing

the city, where the precipitous character of the ground was of itself almost

sufficient for its defence. On the other quarter, where the approaches

were less difficult, it was protected by two other semicircular walls of the

same length as the preceding. They were separated, a considerable

distance from one another and from the fortress; and the intervening

ground was raised so that the walls afforded a breastwork for the troops

stationed there in times of assault. The fortress consisted of three towers,

detached from one another. One was appropriated to the Inca, and was

garnished with the sumptuous decorations befitting a royal residence,

rather than a military post. The other two were held by the garrison,

drawn from the Peruvian nobles, and commanded by an officer of the

blood royal; for the position was of too great importance to be intrusted to

inferior hands. The hill was excavated below the towers, and several

subterraneous galleries communicated with the city and the palaces of the

Inca.21

The fortress, the walls, and the galleries were all built of stone, the heavy

blocks of which were not laid in regular courses, but so disposed that the

small ones might fill up the interstices between the great. They formed a

sort of rustic work, being rough-hewn except towards the edges, which

were finely wrought; and, though no cement was used, the several blocks

were adjusted with so much exactness and united so closely, that it was

impossible to introduce even the blade of a knife between them.22 Many

of these stones were of vast size; some of them being full thirty-eight feet

long, by eighteen broad, and six feet thick.23

We are filled with astonishment, when we consider, that these enormous

masses were hewn from their native bed and fashioned into shape, by a

people ignorant of the use of iron; that they were brought from quarries,

from four to fifteen leagues distant, 24 without the aid of beasts of burden;

were transported across rivers and ravines, raised to their elevated

position on the sierra, and finally adjusted there with the nicest accuracy,

without the knowledge of tools and machinery familiar to the European.

Twenty thousand men are said to have been employed on this great

structure, and fifty years consumed in the building.25 However this may

be, we see in it the workings of a despotism which had the lives and

fortunes of its vassals at its absolute disposal, and which, however mild in

its general character, esteemed these vassals, when employed in its

service, as lightly as the brute animals for which they served as a

substitute.

The fortress of Cuzco was but part of a system of fortifications established

throughout their dominions by the Incas. This system formed a prominent

feature in their military policy; but before entering on this latter, it will

be proper to give the reader some view of their civil institutions and

scheme of government.

The sceptre of the Incas, if we may credit their historian, descended in

unbroken succession from father to son, through their whole dynasty.

Whatever we may think of this, it appears probable that the right of

inheritance might be claimed by the eldest son of the Coya, or lawful

queen, as she was styled, to distinguish her from the host of concubines

who shared the affections of the sovereign.26 The queen was further

distinguished, at least in later reigns, by the circumstance of being

selected from the sisters of the Inca, an arrangement which, however

revolting to the ideas of civilized nations, was recommended to the

Peruvians by its securing an heir to the crown of the pure heaven-born

race, uncontaminated by any mixture of earthly mould.27

In his early years, the royal offspring was intrusted to the care of the

amautas, or "wise men," as the teachers of Peruvian science were called,

who instructed him in such elements of knowledge as they possessed, and

especially in the cumbrous ceremonial of their religion, in which he was

to take a prominent part. Great care was also bestowed on his military

education, of the last importance in a state which, with its professions of

peace and good-will, was ever at war for the acquisition of empire.

In this military school he was educated with such of the Inca nobles as

were nearly of his own age; for the sacred name of Inca--a fruitful source

of obscurity in their annals--was applied indifferently to all who

descended by the male line from the founder of the monarchy.28 At the

age of sixteen the pupils underwent a public examination, previous to

their admission to what may be called the order of chivalry. This

examination was conducted by some of the oldest and most illustrious

Incas. The candidates were required to show their prowess in the athletic

exercises of the warrior; in wrestling and boxing, in running such long

courses as fully tried their agility and strength, in severe fasts of several

days' duration, and in mimic combats, which, although the weapons were

blunted, were always attended with wounds, and sometimes with death.

During this trial, which lasted thirty days, the royal neophyte fared no

better than his comrades, sleeping on the bare ground, going unshod, and

wearing a mean attire,--a mode of life, it was supposed, which might tend

to inspire him with more sympathy with the destitute. With all this show

of impartiality, however, it will probably be doing no injustice to the

judges to suppose that a politic discretion may have somewhat quickened

their perceptions of the real merits of the heir-apparent.

At the end of the appointed time, the candidates selected as worthy of the

honors of their barbaric chivalry were presented to the sovereign, who

condescended to take a principal part in the ceremony of inauguration.

He began with a brief discourse, in which, after congratulating the young

aspirants on the proficiency they had shown in martial exercises, he

reminded them of the responsibilities attached to their birth and station;

and, addressing them affectionately as "children of the Sun," he exhorted

them to imitate their great progenitor in his glorious career of beneficence

to mankind. The novices then drew near, and, kneeling one by one before

the Inca, he pierced their ears with a golden bodkin; and this was suffered

to remain there till an opening had been made large enough for the

enormous pendants which were peculiar to their order, and which gave

them, with the Spaniards, the name of orejones.29 This ornament was so

massy in the ears of the sovereign, that the cartilage was distended by it

nearly to the shoulder, producing what seemed a monstrous deformity in

the eyes of the Europeans, though, under the magical influence of fashion,

it was regarded as a beauty by the natives.

When this operation was performed, one of the most venerable of the

nobles dressed the feet of the candidates in the sandals worn by the order,

which may remind us of the ceremony of buckling on the spurs of the

Christian knight. They were then allowed to assume the girdle or sash

around the loins, corresponding with the toga virilis of the Romans, and

intimating that they had reached the season of manhood. Their heads

were adorned with garlands of flowers, which, by their various colors,

were emblematic of the clemency and goodness that should grace the

character of every true warrior; and the leaves of an evergreen plant were

mingled with the flowers, to show that these virtues should endure without

end.30 The prince's head was further ornamented by a fillet, or tasselled

fringe, of a yellow color, made of the fine threads of the vicuna wool,

which encircled the forehead as the peculiar insignia of the heir apparent.

The great body of the Inca nobility next made their appearance, and,

beginning with those nearest of kin, knelt down before the prince, and did

him homage as successor to the crown. The whole assembly then moved

to the great square of the capital, where songs, and dances, and other

public festivities closed the important ceremonial of the huaracu.31

The reader will be less surprised by the resemblance which this

ceremonial bears to the inauguration of a Christian knight in the feudal

ages, if he reflects that a similar analogy may be traced in the institutions

of other people more or less civilized; and that it is natural that nations,

occupied with the one great business of war, should mark the period,

when the preparatory education for it was ended, by similar characteristic

ceremonies.

Having thus honorably passed through his ordeal, the heir-apparent was

deemed worthy to sit in the councils of his father, and was employed in

offices of trust at home, or, more usually, sent on distant expeditions to

practise in the field the lessons which he had hitherto studied only in the

mimic theatre of war. His first campaigns were conducted under the

renowned commanders who had grown grey in the service of his father;

until, advancing in years and experience, he was placed in command

himself, and, like Huayna Capac, the last and most illustrious of his line,

carried the banner of the rainbow, the armorial ensign of his house, far

over the borders, among the remotest tribes of the plateau.

The government of Peru was a despotism, mild in its character, but in its

form a pure and unmitigated despotism. The sovereign was placed at an

immeasurable distance above his subjects. Even the proudest of the Inca

nobility, claiming a descent from the same divine original as himself,

could not venture into the royal presence, unless barefoot, and bearing a

light burden on his shoulders in token of homage.32 As the

representative of the Sun, he stood at the head of the priesthood, and

presided at the most important of the religious festivals.33 He raised

armies, and usually commanded them in person. He imposed taxes, made

laws, and provided for their execution by the appointment of judges,

whom he removed at pleasure. He was the source from which every thing

flowed, all dignity, all power, all emolument. He was, in short, in the well-

known phrase of the European despot, "himself the state." 34

The Inca asserted his claims as a superior being by assuming a pomp in

his manner of living well calculated to impose on his people. His dress

was of the finest wool of the vicuna, richly dyed, and ornamented with a

profusion of gold and precious stones. Round his head was wreathed a

turban of many-colored folds, called the llautu; and a tasselled fringe, like

that worn by the prince, but of a scarlet color, with two feathers of a rare

and curious bird, called the coraquenque, placed upright in it, were the

distinguishing insignia of royalty. The birds from which these feathers

were obtained were found in a desert country among the mountains; and it

was death to destroy or to take them, as they were reserved for the

exclusive purpose of supplying the royal head-gear. Every succeeding

monarch was provided with a new pair of these plumes, and his credulous

subjects fondly believed that only two individuals of the species had ever

existed to furnish the simple ornament for the diadem of the Incas.35

Although the Peruvian monarch was raised so far above the highest of his

subjects, he condescended to mingle occasionally with them, and took

great pains personally to inspect the condition of the humbler classes. He

presided at some of the religious celebrations, and on these occasions

entertained the great nobles at his table, when he complimented them,

after the fashion of more civilized nations, by drinking the health of those

whom he most delighted to honor.36

But the most effectual means taken by the Incas for communicating with

their people were their progresses through the empire. These were

conducted, at intervals of several years, with great state and magnificence.

The sedan, or litter, in which they travelled, richly emblazoned with gold

and emeralds, was guarded by a numerous escort. The men who bore it

on their shoulders were provided by two cities, specially appointed for the

purpose. It was a post to be coveted by no one, if, as is asserted, a fall

was punished by death.37 They travelled with ease and expedition,

halting at the tambos, or inns, erected by government along the route, and

occasionally at the royal palaces, which in the great towns afforded ample

accommodations to the whole of the monarch's retinue. The noble roads

which traversed the table-land were lined with people who swept away the

stones and stubble from their surface, strewing them with sweet-scented

flowers, and vying with each other in carrying forward the baggage from

one village to another. The monarch halted from time to time to listen to

the grievances of his subjects, or to settle some points which had been

referred to his decision by the regular tribunals. As the princely train

wound its way along the mountain passes, every place was thronged with

spectators eager to catch a glimpse of their sovereign; and, when he raised

the curtains of his litter, and showed himself to their eyes, the air was rent

with acclamations as they invoked blessings on his head.38 Tradition

long commemorated the spots at which he halted, and the simple people

of the country held them in reverence as places consecrated by the

presence of an Inca.39

The royal palaces were on a magnificent scale, and, far from being

confined to the capital or a few principal towns, were scattered over all

the provinces of their vast empire.40 The buildings were low, but

covered a wide extent of ground. Some of the apartments were spacious,

but they were generally small, and had no communication with one

another, except that they opened into a common square or court. The

walls were made of blocks of stone of various sizes, like those described

in the fortress of Cuzco, rough-hewn, but carefully wrought near the line

of junction, which was scarcely visible to the eye. The roofs were of

wood or rushes, which have perished under the rude touch of time, that

has shown more respect for the walls of the edifices. The whole seems to

have been characterized by solidity and strength, rather than by any

attempt at architectural elegance.41

But whatever want of elegance there may have been in the exterior of the

imperial dwellings, it was amply compensated by the interior, in which all

the opulence of the Peruvian princes was ostentatiously displayed. The

sides of the apartments were thickly studded with gold and silver

ornaments. Niches, prepared in the walls, were filled with images of

animals and plants curiously wrought of the same costly materials; and

even much of the domestic furniture, including the utensils devoted to the

most ordinary menial services, displayed the like wanton magnificence!

42 With these gorgeous decorations were mingled richly colored stuffs of

the delicate manufacture of the Peruvian wool, which were of so beautiful

a texture, that the Spanish sovereigns, with all the luxuries of Europe and

Asia at their command, did not disdain to use them.43 The royal

household consisted of a throng of menials, supplied by the neighboring

towns and villages, which, as in Mexico, were bound to furnish the

monarch with fuel and other necessaries for the consumption of the

palace.

But the favorite residence of the Incas was at Yucay, about four leagues

distant from the capital. In this delicious valley, locked up within the

friendly arms of the sierra, which sheltered it from the rude breezes of the

east, and refreshed by gushing fountains and streams of running water,

they built the most beautiful of their palaces. Here, when wearied with

the dust and toil of the city, they loved to retreat, and solace themselves

with the society of their favorite concubines, wandering amidst groves and

airy gardens, that shed around their soft, intoxicating odors, and lulled the

senses to voluptuous repose. Here, too, they loved to indulge in the

luxury of their baths, replenished by streams of crystal water which were

conducted through subterraneous silver channels into basins of gold. The

spacious gardens were stocked with numerous varieties of plants and

flowers that grew without effort in this temperate region of the tropics,

while parterres of a more extraordinary kind were planted by their side,

glowing with the various forms of vegetable life skilfully imitated in gold

and silver! Among them the Indian corn, the most beautiful of American

grains, is particularly commemorated, and the curious workmanship is

noticed with which the golden ear was half disclosed amidst the broad

leaves of silver, and the light tassel of the same material that floated

gracefully from its top.44

If this dazzling picture staggers the faith of the reader, he may reflect that

the Peruvian mountains teemed with gold; that the natives understood the

art of working the mines, to a considerable extent; that none of the ore, as

we shall see hereafter, was converted into coin, and that the whole of it

passed into the hands of the sovereign for his own exclusive benefit,

whether for purposes of utility or ornament. Certain it is that no fact is

better attested by the Conquerors themselves, who had ample means of

information, and no motive for misstatement.--The Italian poets, in their

gorgeous pictures of the gardens of Alcina and Morgana, came nearer the

truth than they imagined.

Our surprise, however, may reasonably be excited, when we consider that

the wealth displayed by the Peruvian princes was only that which each

had amassed individually for himself. He owed nothing to inheritance

from his predecessors. On the decease of an Inca, his palaces were

abandoned, all his treasures, except what were employed in his obsequies,

his furniture and apparel, were suffered to remain as he left them, and his

mansions, save one, were closed up for ever. The new sovereign was to

provide himself with every thing new for his royal state. The reason of

this was the popular belief, that the soul of the departed monarch would

return after a time to reanimate his body on earth; and they wished that he

should find every thing to which he had been used in life prepared for his

reception.45

When an Inca died, or, to use his own language, "was called home to the

mansions of his father, the Sun," 46 his obsequies were celebrated with

great pomp and solemnity. The bowels were taken from the body, and

deposited in the temple of Tampu, about five leagues from the capital. A

quantity of his plate and jewels was buried with them, and a number of his

attendants and favorite concubines, amounting sometimes, it is said, to a

thousand, were immolated on his tomb.47 Some of them showed the

natural repugnance to the sacrifice occasionally manifested by the victims

of a similar superstition in India. But these were probably the menials

and more humble attendants; since the women have been known, in more

than one instance, to lay violent hands on themselves, when restrained

from testifying their fidelity by this act of conjugal martyrdom. This

melancholy ceremony was followed by a general mourning throughout the

empire. At stated intervals, for a year, the people assembled to renew the

expressions of their sorrow, processions were made, displaying the banner

of the departed monarch; bards and minstrels were appointed to chronicle

his achievements, and their songs continued to be rehearsed at high

festivals in the presence of the reigning monarch,--thus stimulating the

living by the glorious example of the dead.48

The body of the deceased Inca was skilfully embalmed, and removed to

the great temple of the Sun at Cuzco. There the Peruvian sovereign, on

entering the awful sanctuary, might behold the effigies of his royal

ancestors, ranged in opposite files,--the men on the right, and their queens

on the left, of the great luminary which blazed in refulgent gold on the

walls of the temple. The bodies, clothed in the princely attire which they

had been accustomed to wear, were placed on chairs of gold, and sat with

their heads inclined downward, their hands placidly crossed over their

bosoms, their countenances exhibiting their natural dusky hue,--less liable

to change than the fresher coloring of a European complexion,--and their

hair of raven black, or silvered over with age, according to the period at

which they died! It seemed like a company of solemn worshippers fixed in

devotion,--so true were the forms and lineaments to life. The Peruvians

were as successful as the Egyptians in the miserable attempt to perpetuate

the existence of the body beyond the limits assigned to it by nature.49

They cherished a still stranger illusion in the attentions which they

continued to pay to these insensible remains, as if they were instinct with

life. One of the houses belonging to a deceased Inca was kept open and

occupied by his guard and attendants, with all the state appropriate to

royalty. On certain festivals, the revered bodies of the sovereigns were

brought out with great ceremony into the public square of the capital.

Invitations were sent by the captains of the guard of the respective Incas

to the different nobles and officers of the court; and entertainments were

provided in the names of their masters, which displayed all the profuse

magnificence of their treasures,--and "such a display," says an ancient

chronicler, "was there in the great square of Cuzco, on this occasion, of

gold and silver plate and jewels, as no other city in the world ever

witnessed." 50 The banquet was served by the menials of the respective

households, and the guests partook of the melancholy cheer in the

presence of the royal phantom with the same attention to the forms of

courtly etiquette as if the living monarch had presided! 51

The nobility of Peru consisted of two orders, the first and by far the most

important of which was that of the Incas, who, boasting a common

descent with their sovereign, lived, as it were, in the reflected light of his

glory. As the Peruvian monarchs availed themselves of the right of

polygamy to a very liberal extent, leaving behind them families of one or

even two hundred children, 52 the nobles of the blood royal, though

comprehending only their descendants in the male line, came in the course

of years to be very numerous.53 They were divided into different

lineages, each of which traced its pedigree to a different member of the

royal dynasty, though all terminated in the divine founder of the empire.

They were distinguished by many exclusive and very important privileges;

they wore a peculiar dress; spoke a dialect, if we may believe the

chronicler, peculiar to themselves; 54 and had the choicest portion of the

public domain assigned for their support. They lived, most of them, at

court, near the person of the prince, sharing in his counsels, dining at his

board, or supplied from his table. They alone were admissible to the great

offices in the priesthood. They were invested with the command of

armies, and of distant garrisons, were placed over the provinces, and, in

short, filled every station of high trust and emolument.55 Even the laws,

severe in their general tenor, seem not to have been framed with reference

to them; and the people, investing the whole order with a portion of the

sacred character which belonged to the sovereign, held that an Inca noble

was incapable of crime.56

The other order of nobility was the Curacas, the caciques of the

conquered nations, or their descendants. They were usually continued by

the government in their places, though they were required to visit the

capital occasionally, and to allow their sons to be educated there as the

pledges of their loyalty. It is not easy to define the nature or extent of

their privileges. They were possessed of more or less power, according to

the extent of their patrimony, and the number of their vassals. Their

authority was usually transmitted from father to son, though sometimes

the successor was chosen by the people.57 They did not occupy the

highest posts of state, or those nearest the person of the sovereign, like the

nobles of the blood. Their authority seems to have been usually local, and

always in subordination to the territorial jurisdiction of the great

provincial governors, who were taken from the Incas.58

It was the Inca nobility, indeed, who constituted the real strength of the

Peruvian monarchy. Attached to their prince by ties of consanguinity,

they had common sympathies and, to a considerable extent, common

interests with him. Distinguished by a peculiar dress and insignia, as well

as by language and blood, from the rest of the community, they were

never confounded with the other tribes and nations who were incorporated

into the great Peruvian monarchy. After the lapse of centuries, they still

retained their individuality as a peculiar people. They were to the

conquered races of the country what the Romans were to the barbarous

hordes of the Empire, or the Normans to the ancient inhabitants of the

British Isles. Clustering around the throne, they formed an invincible

phalanx, to shield it alike from secret conspiracy and open insurrection.

Though living chiefly in the capital, they were also distributed throughout

the country in all its high stations and strong military posts, thus

establishing lines of communication with the court, which enabled the

sovereign to act simultaneously and with effect on the most distant

quarters of his empire. They possessed, moreover, an intellectual

preeminence, which, no less than their station, gave them authority with

the people. Indeed, it may be said to have been the principal foundation

of their authority. The crania of the Inca race show a decided superiority

over the other races of the land in intellectual power; 59 and it cannot be

denied that it was the fountain of that peculiar civilization and social

polity, which raised the Peruvian monarchy above every other state in

South America. Whence this remarkable race came, and what was its

early history, are among those mysteries that meet us so frequently in the

annals of the New World, and which time and the antiquary have as yet

done little to explain.

Book 1

Chapter 2

Orders Of The State--Provisions For Justice--Division Of Lands-

Revenues And Registers--Great Roads And Posts-

Military Tactics And Policy

If we are surprised at the peculiar and original features of what may be

called the Peruvian aristocracy, we shall be still more so as we descend

to the lower orders of the community, and see the very artificial character

of their institutions,--as artificial as those of ancient Sparta, and, though

in a different way, quite as repugnant to the essential principles of our

nature. The institutions of Lycurgus, however, were designed for a petty

state, while those of Peru, although originally intended for such, seemed,

like the magic tent in the Arabian tale, to have an indefinite power of

expansion, and were as well suited to the most flourishing condition of

the empire as to its infant fortunes. In this remarkable accommodation to

change of circumstances we see the proofs of a contrivance that argues

no slight advance in civilization.

The name of Peru was not known to the natives. It was given by the

Spaniards, and originated, it is said, in a misapprehension of the Indian

name of "river."1 However this may be, it is certain that the natives had

no other epithet by which to designate the large collection of tribes and

nations who were assembled under the sceptre of the Incas, than that of

Tavantinsuyu, or "four quarters of the world."2 This will not surprise a

citizen of the United States, who has no other name by which to class

himself among nations than what is borrowed from a quarter of the

globe.3 The kingdom, conformably to its name, was divided into four

parts, distinguished each by a separate title, and to each of which ran one

of the four great roads that diverged from Cuzco, the capital or navel of

the Peruvian monarchy. The city was in like manner divided into four

quarters; and the various races, which gathered there from the distant

parts of the empire, lived each in the quarter nearest to its respective

province. They all continued to wear their peculiar national costume, so

that it was easy to determine their origin; and the same order and system

of arrangement prevailed in the motley population of the capital, as in

the great provinces of the empire. The capital, in fact, was a miniature

image of the empire.4

The four great provinces were each placed under a viceroy or governor,

who ruled over them with the assistance of one or more councils for the

different departments. These viceroys resided, some portion of their

time, at least, in the capital, where they constituted a sort of council of

state to the Inca.5 The nation at large was distributed into decades, or

small bodies of ten; and every tenth man, or head of a decade, had

supervision of the rest,---being required to see that they enjoyed the

rights and immunities to which they were entitled, to solicit aid in their

behalf from government, when necessary, and to bring offenders to

justice. To this last they were stimulated by a law that imposed on them,

in case of neglect, the same penalty that would have been incurred by the

guilty party. With this law hanging over his head, the magistrate of Peru,

we may well believe, did not often go to sleep on his post.6

The people were still further divided into bodies of fifty, one hundred,

five hundred, and a thousand, with each an officer having general

supervision over those beneath, and the higher ones possessing, to a

certain extent, authority in matters of police. Lastly, the whole empire

was distributed into sections or departments of ten thousand inhabitants,

with a governor over each, from the Inca nobility, who had control over

the curacas and other territorial officers in the district. There were, also,

regular tribunals of justice, consisting of magistrates in each of the towns

or small communities, with jurisdiction over petty offences, while those

of a graver character were carried before superior judges, usually the

governors or rulers of the districts. These judges all held their authority

and received their support from the Crown, by which they were

appointed and removed at pleasure. They were obliged to determine

every suit in five days from the time it was brought before them; and

there was no appeal from one tribunal to another. Yet there were

important provisions for the security of justice. A committee of visitors

patrolled the kingdom at certain times to investigate the character and

conduct of the magistrates; and any neglect or violation of duty was

punished in the most exemplary manner. The inferior courts were also

required to make monthly returns of their proceedings to the higher ones,

and these made reports in like manner to the viceroys; so that the

monarch, seated in the centre of his dominions, could look abroad, as it

were, to the most distant extremities, and review and rectify any abuses

in the administration of the law.7

The laws were few and exceedingly severe. They related almost wholly

to criminal matters. Few other laws were needed by a people who had

no money, little trade, and hardly any thing that could be called fixed

property. The crimes of theft, adultery, and murder were all capital;

though it was wisely provided that some extenuating circumstances

might be allowed to mitigate the punishment.8 Blasphemy against the

Sun, and malediction of the Inca,--offences, indeed, of the same

complexion were also punished with death. Removing landmarks,

turning the water away from a neighbor's land into one's own, burning a

house, were all severely punished. To burn a bridge was death. The inca

allowed no obstacle to those facilities of communication so essential to

the maintenance of public order. A rebellious city or province was laid

waste, and its inhabitants exterminated. Rebellion against the "Child of

the Sun," was the greatest of all crimes.9

The simplicity and severity of the Peruvian code may be thought to infer

a state of society but little advanced; which had few of those complex

interests and relations that grow up in a civilized community, and which

had not proceeded far enough in the science of legislation to economize

human suffering by proportioning penalties to crimes. But the Peruvian

institutions must be regarded from a different point of view from that in

which we study those of other nations. The laws emanated from the

sovereign, and that sovereign held a divine commission, and was

possessed of a divine nature. To violate the law was not only to insult

the majesty of the throne, but it was sacrilege. The slightest offence,

viewed in this light, merited death; and the gravest could incur no

heavier penalty.10 Yet, in the infliction of their punishments, they

showed no unnecessary cruelty; and the sufferings of the victim were not

prolonged by the ingenious torments so frequent among barbarous

nations.11

These legislative provisions may strike us as very defective, even as

compared with those of the semi-civilized races of Anahuac, where a

gradation of courts, moreover, with the right of appeal, afforded a

tolerable security for justice. But in a country like Peru, where few but

criminal causes were known, the right of appeal was of less consequence.

The law was simple, its application easy; and, where the judge was

honest, the case was as likely to be determined correctly on the first

hearing as on the second. The inspection of the board of visitors, and the

monthly returns of the tribunals, afforded no slight guaranty for their

integrity. The law which required a decision within five days would

seem little suited to the complex and embarrassing litigation of a modern

tribunal. But, in the simple questions submitted to the Peruvian judge,

delay would have been useless; and the Spaniards, familiar with the evils

growing out of long-protracted suits, where the successful litigant is too

often a ruined man, are loud in their encomiums of this swift-handed and

economical justice.12

The fiscal regulations of the Incas, and the laws respecting property, are

the most remarkable features in the Peruvian polity. The whole territory

of the empire was divided into three parts, one for the Sun, another for

the Inca, and the last for the people. Which of the three was the largest

is doubtful. The proportions differed materially in different provinces.

The distribution, indeed, was made on the same general principle, as

each new conquest was added to the monarchy; but the propertion varied

according to the amount of population, and the greater or less amount of

land consequently required for the support of the inhabitants.13

The lands assigned to the Sun furnished a revenue to support the

temples, and maintain the costly ceremonial of the Peruvian worship and

the multitudinous priesthood. Those reserved for the Inca went to

support the royal state, as well as the numerous members of his

household and his kindred, and supplied the various exigencies of

government. The remainder of the lands was divided, per capita, in

equal shares among the people. It was provided by law, as we shall see

hereafter, that every Peruvian should marry at a certain age. When this

event took place, the community or district in which he lived furnished

him with a dwelling, which, as it was constructed of humble materials,

was done at little cost. A lot of land was then assigned to him sufficient

for his own maintenance and that of his wife. An additional portion was

granted for every child, the amount allowed for a son being the double of

that for a daughter. The division of the soil was renewed every year, and

the possessions of the tenant were increased or diminished according to

the numbers in his family.14 The same arrangement was observed with

reference to the curacas, except only that a domain was assigned to them

corresponding with the superior dignity of their stations.15

A more thorough and effectual agrarian law than this cannot be

imagined. In other countries where such a law has been introduced, its

operation, after a time, has given way to the natural order of events, and,

under the superior intelligence and thrift of some and the prodigality of

others, the usual vicissitudes of fortune have been allowed to take their

course, and restore things to their natural inequality. Even the iron law

of Lycurgus ceased to operate after a time, and melted away before the

spirit of luxury and avarice. The nearest approach to the Peruvian

constitution was probably in Judea, where, on the recurrence of the great

national jubilee, at the close of every half-century, estates reverted to

their original proprietors. There was this important difference in Peru;

that not only did the lease, if we may so call it, terminate with the year,

but during that period the tenant had no power to alienate or to add to his

possessions. The end of the brief term found him in precisely the same

condition that he was in at the beginning. Such a state of things might be

supposed to be fatal to any thing like attachment to the soil, or to that

desire of improving it, which is natural to the permanent proprietor, and

hardly less so to the holder of a long lease. But the practical operation of

the law seems to have been otherwise; and it is probable, that, under the

influence of that love of order and aversion to change which marked the

Peruvian institutions, each new partition of the soil usually confirmed the

occupant in his possession, and the tenant for a year was converted into a

proprietor for life.

The territory was cultivated wholly by the people. The lands belonging

to the Sun were first attended to. They next tilled the lands of the old, of

the sick, of the widow and the orphan, and of soldiers engaged in actual

service; in short, of all that part of the community who, from bodily

infirmity or any other cause, were unable to attend to their own concerns.

The people were then allowed to work on their own ground, each man

for himself, but with the general obligation to assist his neighbor, when

any circumstance--the burden of a young and numerous family, for

example--might demand it.16 Lastly, they cultivated the lands of the

Inca. This was done, with great ceremony, by the whole population in a

body. At break of day, they were summoned together by proclamation

from some neighboring tower or eminence, and all the inhabitants of the

district, men, women, and children, appeared dressed in their gayest

apparel, bedecked with their little store of finery and ornaments, as if for

some great jubilee. They went through the labors of the day with the

same joyous spirit, chanting their popular ballads which commemorated

the heroic deeds of the Incas, regulating their movements by the measure

of the chant, and all mingling in the chorus, of which the word hailli, or

"triumph," was usually the burden. These national airs had something

soft and pleasing in their character, that recommended them to the

Spaniards; and many a Peruvian song was set to music by them after the

Conquest, and was listened to by the unfortunate natives with

melancholy satisfaction, as it called up recollections of the past, when

their days glided peacefully away under the sceptre of the Incas.17

A similar arrangement prevailed with respect to the different

manufactures as to the agricultural products of the country. The flocks

of llamas, or Peruvian sheep, were appropriated exclusively to the Sun

and to the Inca.18 Their number was immense. They were scattered

over the different provinces, chiefly in the colder regions of the country,

where they were intrusted to the care of experienced shepherds, who

conducted them to different pastures according to the change of season.

A large number was every year sent to the capital for the consumption of

the Court, and for the religious festivals and sacrifices. But these were

only the males, as no female was allowed to be killed. The regulations

for the care and breeding of these flocks were prescribed with the

greatest minuteness, and with a sagacity which excited the admiration of

the Spaniards, who were familiar with the management of the great

migratory flocks of merinos in their own country.19

At the appointed season, they were all sheared, and the wool was

deposited in the public magazines. It was then dealt out to each family in

such quantities as sufficed for its wants, and was consigned to the female

part of the household, who were well instructed in the business of

spinning and weaving. When this labor was accomplished, and the

family was provided with a coarse but warm covering, suited to the cold

climate of the mountains,--for, in the lower country, cotton, furnished in

like manner by the Crown, took the place, to a certain extent, of wool,--

the people were required to labor for the Inca. The quantity of the cloth

needed, as well as the peculiar kind and quality of the fabric, was first

determined at Cuzco. The work was then apportioned among the

different provinces. Officers, appointed for the purpose, superintended

the distribution of the wool, so that the manufacture of the different

articles should be intrusted to the most competent hands.20 They did not

leave the matter here, but entered the dwellings, from time to time, and

saw that the work was faithfully executed. This domestic inquisition was

not confined to the labors for the Inca. It included, also, those for the

several families; and care was taken that each household should employ

the materials furnished for its own use in the manner that was intended,

so that no one should be unprovided with necessary apparel.21 In this

domestic labor all the female part of the establishment was expected to

join. Occupation was found for all, from the child five years old to the

aged matron not too infirm to hold a distaff. No one, at least none but

the decrepit and the sick, was allowed to eat the bread of idleness in

Peru. Idleness was a crime in the eye of the law, and, as such, severely

punished; while industry was publicly commended and stimulated by

rewards.22

The like course was pursued with reference to the other requisitions of

the government. All the mines in the kingdom belonged to the Inca.

They were wrought exclusively for his benefit, by persons familiar with

this service, and selected from the districts where the mines were

situated.23 Every Peruvian of the lower class was a husbandman, and,

with the exception of those already specified, was expected to provide

for his own support by the cultivation of his land. A small portion of the

community, however, was instructed in mechanical arts; some of them of

the more elegant kind, subservient to the purposes of luxury and

ornament. The demand for these was chiefly limited to the sovereign

and his Court; but the labor of a larger number of hands was exacted for

the execution of the great public works which covered the land. The

nature and amount of the services required were all determined at Cuzco

by commissioners well instructed in the resources of the country, and in

the character of the inhabitants of different provinces.24

This information was obtained by an admirable regulation, which has

scarcely a counterpart in the annals of a semi-civilized people. A

register was kept of all the births and deaths throughout the country, and

exact returns of the actual population were made to government every

year, by means of the quipus, a curious invention, which will be

explained hereafter.25 At certain intervals, also, a general survey of the

country was made, exhibiting a complete view of the character of the

soil, its fertility, the nature of its products, both agricultural and mineral,-

-in short, of all that constituted the physical resources of the empire.26

Furnished with these statistical details, it was easy for the government,

after determining the amount of requisitions, to distribute the work

among the respective provinces best qualified to execute it. The task of

apportioning the labor was assigned to the local authorities, and great

care was taken that it should be done in such a manner, that, while the

most competent hands were selected, it should not fall disproportionately

heavy on any.27

The different provinces of the country furnished persons peculiarly

suited to different employments, which, as we shall see hereafter, usually

descended from father to son. Thus, one district supplied those most

skilled in working the mines, another the most curious workers in metals,

or in wood, and so on.28 The artisan was provided by government with

the materials; and no one was required to give more than a stipulated

portion of his time to the public service. He was then succeeded by

another for the like term; and it should be observed, that all who were

engaged in the employment of the government--and the remark applies

equally to agricultural labor--were maintained, for the time, at the public

expense.29 By this constant rotation of labor, it was intended that no

one should be overburdened, and that each man should have time to

provide for the demands of his own household. It was impossible--in the

judgment of a high Spanish authority--to improve on the system of

distribution, so carefully was it accommodated to the condition and

comfort of the artisan.30 The security of the working classes seems to

have been ever kept in view in the regulations of the government; and

these were so discreetly arranged, that the most wearing and

unwholesome labors, as those of the mines, occasioned no detriment to

the health of the laborer; a striking contrast to his subsequent condition

under the Spanish rule.31

A part of the agricultural produce and manufactures was transported to

Cuzco, to minister to the immediate demands of the Inca and his Court.

But far the greater part was stored in magazines scattered over the

different provinces. These spacious buildings, constructed of stone,

were divided between the Sun and the Inca, though the greater share

seems to have been appropriated by the monarch. By a wise regulation,

any deficiency in the contributions of the Inca might be supplied from

the granaries of the Sun.32 But such a necessity could rarely have

happened; and the providence of the government usually left a large

surplus in the royal depositories, which was removed to a third class of

magazines, whose design was to supply the people in seasons of scarcity,

and, occasionally, to furnish relief to individuals, whom sickness or

misfortune had reduced to poverty; thus, in a manner, justifying the

assertion of a Castilian document, that a large portion of the revenues of

the Inca found its way back again, through one channel or another, into

the hands of the people.33 These magazines were found by the

Spaniards, on their arrival, stored with all the various products and

manufactures of the country,--with maize, coca, quinua, woolen and

cotton stuffs of the finest quality, with vases and utensils of gold, silver,

and copper, in short, with every article of luxury or use within the

compass of Peruvian skill.34 The magazines of grain, in particular,

would frequently have sufficed for the consumption of the adjoining

district for several years.35 An inventory of the various products of the

country, and the quarters whence they were obtained, was every year

taken by the royal officers, and recorded by the quipucamayus on their

registers, with surprising regularity and precision. These registers were

transmitted to the capital, and submitted to the Inca, who could thus at a

glance, as it were, embrace the whole results of the national industry, and

see how far they corresponded with the requisitions of government.36

Such are some of the most remarkable features of the Peruvian

institutions relating to property, as delineated by writers who, however

contradictory in the details, have a general conformity of outline. These

institutions are certainly so remarkable, that it is hardly credible they

should ever have been enforced throughout a great empire, and for a long

period of years. Yet we have the most unequivocal testimony to the fact

from the Spaniards, who landed in Peru in time to witness their

operation; some of whom, men of high judicial station and character,

were commissioned by the government to make investigations into the

state of the country under its ancient rulers.

The impositions on the Peruvian people seem to have been sufficiently

heavy. On them rested the whole burden of maintaining, not only their

own order, but every other order in the state. The members of the royal

house, the great nobles, even the public functionaries, and the numerous

body of the priesthood, were all exempt from taxation.37 The whole

duty of defraying the expenses of the government belonged to the

people. Yet this was not materially different from the condition of things

formerly existing in most parts of Europe, where the various privileged

classes claimed exemption--not always with success, indeed--from

bearing part of the public burdens. The great hardship in the case of the

Peruvian was, that he could not better his condition. His labors were for

others, rather than for himself. However industrious, he could not add a

rood to his own possessions, nor advance himself one hair's breadth in

the social scale. The great and universal motive to honest industry, that

of bettering one's lot, was lost upon him. The great law of human

progress was not for him. As he was born, so he was to die. Even his

time he could not properly call his own. Without money, with little

property of any kind, he paid his taxes in labor.38 No wonder that the

government should have dealt with sloth as a crime. It was a crime

against the state, and to be wasteful of time was, in a manner, to rob the

exchequer. The Peruvian, laboring all his life for others, might be

compared to the convict in a treadmill, going the same dull round of

incessant toil, with the consciousness, that, however profitable the results

to the state, they were nothing to him.

But this is the dark side of the picture. If no man could become rich in

Peru, no man could become poor. No spendthrift could waste his

substance in riotous luxury. No adventurous schemer could impoverish

his family by the spirit of speculation. The law was constantly directed

to enforce a steady industry and a sober management of his affairs. No

mendicant was tolerated in Peru. When a man was reduced by poverty

or misfortune, (it could hardly be by fault,) the arm of the law was

stretched out to minister relief; not the stinted relief of private charity,

nor that which is doled out, drop by drop, as it were, from the frozen

reservoirs of "the parish," but in generous measure, bringing no

humiliation to the object of it, and placing him on a level with the rest of

his countrymen.39

No man could be rich, no man could be poor, in Peru; but all might

enjoy, and did enjoy, a competence. Ambition, avarice, the love of

change, the morbid spirit of discontent, those passions which most

agitate the minds of men, found no place in the bosom of the Peruvian.

The very condition of his being seemed to be at war with change. He

moved on in the same unbroken circle in which his fathers had moved

before him, and in which his children were to follow. It was the object

of the Incas to infuse into their subjects a spirit of passive obedience and

tranquillity,--a perfect acquiescence in the established order of things. In

this they fully succeeded. The Spaniards who first visited the country are

emphatic in their testimony, that no government could have been better

suited to the genius of the people; and no people could have appeared

more contented with their lot, or more devoted to their government.40

Those who may distrust the accounts of Peruvian industry will find their

doubts removed on a visit to the country. The traveller still meets,

especially in the central regions of the table-land, with memorials of the

past, remains of temples, palaces, fortresses, terraced mountains, great

military roads, aqueducts, and other public works, which, whatever

degree of science they may display in their execution, astonish him by

their number, the massive character of the materials, and the grandeur of

the design. Among them, perhaps the most remarkable are the great

roads, the broken remains of which are still in sufficient preservation to

attest their former magnificence. There were many of these roads,

traversing different parts of the kingdom; but the most considerable were

the two which extended from Quito to Cuzco, and, again diverging from

the capital, continued in a southern direction towards Chili.

One of these roads passed over the grand plateau, and the other along the

lowlands on the borders of the ocean. The former was much the more

difficult achievement, from the character of the country. It was

conducted over pathless sierras buried in snow; galleries were cut for

leagues through the living rock; rivers were crossed by means of bridges

that swung suspended in the air; precipices were scaled by stairways

hewn out of the native bed; ravines of hideous depth were filled up with

solid masonry; in short, all the difficulties that beset a wild and

mountainous region, and which might appall the most courageous

engineer of modern times, were encountered and successfully overcome.

The length of the road, of which scattered fragments only remain, is

variously estimated, from fifteen hundred to two thousand miles; and

stone pillars, in the manner of European milestones, were erected at

stated intervals of somewhat more than a league, all along the route. Its

breadth scarcely exceeded twenty feet.41 It was built of heavy flags of

freestone, and in some parts, at least, covered with a bituminous cement,

which time has made harder than the stone itself. In some places, where

the ravines had been filled up with masonry, the mountain torrents,

wearing on it for ages, have gradually eaten a way through the base, and

left the superincumbent mass--such is the cohesion of the materials--still

spanning the valley like an arch ! 42

Over some of the boldest streams it was necessary to construct

suspension bridges, as they are termed, made of the tough fibres of the

maguey, or of the osier of the country, which has an extraordinary degree

of tenacity and strength. These osiers were woven into cables of the

thickness of a man's body. The huge ropes, then stretched across the

water, were conducted through rings or holes cut in immense buttresses

of stone raised on the opposite banks of the river, and there secured to

heavy pieces of timber. Several of these enormous cables, bound

together, formed a bridge, which, covered with planks, well secured and

defended by a railing of the same osier materials on the sides, afforded a

safe passage for the traveller. The length of this aerial bridge, sometimes

exceeding two hundred feet, caused it, confined, as it was, only at the

extremities, to dip with an alarming inclination towards the centre, while

the motion given to it by the passenger occasioned an oscillation still

more frightful, as his eye wandered over the dark abyss of waters that

foamed and tumbled many a fathom beneath. Yet these light and fragile

fabrics were crossed without fear by the Peruvians, and are still retained

by the Spaniards over those streams which, from the depth or

impetuosity of the current, would seem impracticable for the usual

modes of conveyance. The wider and more tranquil waters were crossed

on balsas--a kind of raft still much used by the natives--to which sails

were attached, furnishing the only instance of this higher kind of

navigation among the American Indians.43

The other great road of the Incas lay through the level country between

the Andes and the ocean. It was constructed in a different manner, as

demanded by the nature of the ground, which was for the most part low,

and much of it sandy. The causeway was raised on a high embankment

of earth, and defended on either side by a parapet or wall of clay; and

trees and odoriferous shrubs were planted along the margin, regaling the

sense of the traveller with their perfumes, and refreshing him by their

shades, so grateful under the burning sky of the tropics. In the strips of

sandy waste, which occasionally intervened, where the light and volatile

soil was incapable of sustaining a road, huge piles, many of them to be

seen at this day, were driven into the ground to indicate the route to the

traveller.44

All along these highways, caravansaries, or tambos, as they were called,

were erected, at the distance of ten or twelve miles from each other, for

the accommodation, more particularly, of the Inca and his suite, and

those who journeyed on the public business. There were few other

travellers in Peru. Some of these buildings were on an extensive scale,

consisting of a fortress, barracks, and other military works, surrounded

by a parapet of stone, and covering a large tract of ground. These were

evidently destined for the accommodation of the imperial armies, when

on their march across the country. The care of the great roads was

committed to the districts through which they passed, and a large number

of hands was constantly employed under the Incas to keep them in repair.

This was the more easily done in a country where the mode of travelling

was altogether on foot; though the roads are said to have been so nicely

constructed, that a carriage might have rolled over them as securely as on

any of the great roads of Europe.45 Still, in a region where the elements

of fire and water are both actively at work in the business of destruction,

they must, without constant supervision, have gradually gone to decay.

Such has been their fate under the Spanish conquerors, who took no care

to enforce the admirable system for their preservation adopted by the

Incas. Yet the broken portions that still survive, here and there, like the

fragments of the great Roman roads scattered over Europe, bear

evidence to their primitive grandeur, and have drawn forth the eulogium

from a discriminating traveller, usually not too profuse in his panegyric,

that "the roads of the Incas were among the most useful and stupendous

works ever executed by man." 46

The system of communication through their dominions was still further

improved by the Peruvian sovereigns, by the introduction of posts, in the

same manner as was done by the Aztecs. The Peruvian posts, however,

established on all the great routes that conducted to the capital, were on a

much more extended plan than those in Mexico. All along these routes,

small buildings were erected, at the distance of less than five miles

asunder,47 in each of which a number of runners, or chasquis, as they

were called, were stationed to carry forward the despatches of

government.48 These despatches were either verbal, or conveyed by

means of quipus, and sometimes accompanied by a thread of the crimson

fringe worn round the temples of the Inca, which was regarded with the

same implicit deference as the signet ring of an Oriental despot.49

The chasquis were dressed in a peculiar livery, intimating their

profession. They were all trained to the employment, and selected for

their speed and fidelity. As the distance each courier had to perform was

small, and as he had ample time to refresh himself at the stations, they

dart over the ground with great swiftness, and messages were carried

through the whole extent of the long routes, at the rate of a hundred and

fifty miles a day. The office of the chasquis was not limited to carrying

despatches. They frequently brought various articles for the use of the

Court; and in this way, fish from the distant ocean, fruits, game, and

different commodities from the hot regions on the coast, were taken to

the capital in good condition, and served fresh at the royal table.50 It is

remarkable that this important institution should have been known to

both the Mexicans and the Peruvians without any correspondence with

one another; and that it should have been found among two barbarian

nations of the New World, long before it was introduced among the

civilized nations of Europe.51

By these wise contrivances of the Incas, the most distant parts of the

long-extended empire of Peru were brought into intimate relations with

each other. And while the capitals of Christendom, but a few hundred

miles apart, remained as far asunder as if seas had rolled between them,

the great capitals Cuzco and Quito were placed by the high roads of the

Incas in immediate correspondence. Intelligence from the numerous

provinces was transmitted on the wings of the wind to the Peruvian

metropolis, the great focus to which all the lines of communication

converged. Not an insurrectionary movement could occur, not an

invasion, on the remotest frontier, before the tidings were conveyed to

the capital, and the imperial armies were on their march across the

magnificent roads of the country to suppress it. So admirable was the

machinery contrived by the American despots for maintaining

tranquillity throughout their dominions! It may remind us of the similar

institutions of ancient Rome, when, under the Caesars, she was mistress

of half the world.

A principal design of the great roads was to serve the purposes of

military communication. It formed an important item of their military

policy, which is quite as well worth studying as their municipal.

Notwithstanding the pacific professions of the Incas, and the pacific

tendency, indeed, of their domestic institutions, they were constantly at

war. It was by war that their paltry territory had been gradually enlarged

to a powerful empire. When this was achieved, the capital, safe in its

central position, was no longer shaken by these military movements, and

the country enjoyed, in a great degree, the blessings of tranquillity and

order. But, however tranquil at heart, there is not a reign upon record in

which the nation was not engaged in war against the barbarous nations

on the frontier. Religion furnished a plausible pretext for incessant

aggression, and disguised the lust of conquest in the Incas, probably,

from their own eyes, as well as from those of their subjects. Like the

followers of Mahomet, bearing the sword in one hand and the Koran in

the other, the Incas of Peru offered no alternative but the worship of the

Sun or war.

It is true, their fanaticism--or their policy--showed itself in a milder form

than was found in the descendants of the Prophet. Like the great

luminary which they adored, they operated by gentleness more potent

than violence.52 They sought to soften the hearts of the rude tribes

around them, and melt them by acts of condescension and kindness. Far

from provoking hostilities, they allowed time for the salutary example of

their own institutions to work its effect, trusting that their less civilized

neighbors would submit to their sceptre, from a conviction of the

blessings it would secure to them. When this course failed, they

employed other measures, but still of a pacific character; and endeavored

by negotiation, by conciliatory treatment, and by presents to the leading

men, to win them over to their dominion. In short, they practised all the

arts familiar to the most subtle politician of a civilized land to secure the

acquisition of empire. When all these expedients failed, they prepared

for war.

Their levies were drawn from all the different provinces; though from

some, where the character of the people was particularly hardy, more

than from others.53 It seems probable that every Peruvian, who had

reached a certain age, might be called to bear arms. But the rotation of

military service, and the regular drills, which took place twice or thrice

in a month, of the inhabitants of every village, raised the soldiers

generally above the rank of a raw militia. The Peruvian army, at first

inconsiderable, came, with the increase of population, in the latter days

of the empire, to be very large, so that their monarchs could bring into

the field, as contemporaries assure us, a force amounting to two hundred

thousand men. They showed the same skill and respect for order in their

military organization, as in other things. The troops were divided into

bodies corresponding with our battalions and companies, led by officers,

that rose, in regular gradation, from the lowest subaltern to the Inca

noble, who was intrusted with the general command.54

Their arms consisted of the usual weapons employed by nations, whether

civilized or uncivilized, before the invention of powder,--bows and

arrows, lances, darts, a short kind of sword, a battle-axe or partisan, and

slings, with which they were very expert. Their spears and arrows were

tipped with copper, or, more commonly, with bone, and the weapons of

the Inca lords were frequently mounted with gold or silver. Their heads

were protected by casques made either of wood or of the skins of wild

animals, and sometimes richly decorated with metal and with precious

stones, surmounted by the brilliant plumage of the tropical birds. These,

of course, were the ornaments only of the higher orders. The great mass

of the soldiery were dressed in the peculiar costume of their provinces,

and their heads were wreathed with a sort of turban or roll of different-

colored cloths, that produced a gay and animating effect. Their

defensive armor consisted of a shield or buckler, and a close tunic of

quilted cotton, in the same manner as with the Mexicans. Each company

had its particular banner, and the imperial standard, high above all,

displayed the glittering device and the rainbow,--the armorial ensign of

the Incas, intimating their claims as children of the skies.55

By means of the thorough system of communication established in the

country, a short time sufficed to draw the levies together from the most

distant quarters. The army was put under the direction of some

experienced chief, of the blood royal, or, more frequently, headed by the

Inca in person. The march was rapidly performed, and with little fatigue

to the soldier; for, all along the great routes, quarters were provided for

him, at regular distances, where he could find ample accommodations.

The country is still covered with the remains of military works,

constructed of porphyry or granite, which tradition assures us were

designed to lodge the Inca and his army.56

At regular intervals, also, magazines were established, filled with grain,

weapons, and the different munitions of war, with which the army was

supplied on its march. It was the especial care of the government to see

that these magazines, which were furnished from the stores of the Incas,

were always well filled. When the Spaniards invaded the country, they

supported their own armies for a long time on the provisions found in

them.57 The Peruvian soldier was forbidden to commit any trespass on

the property of the inhabitants whose territory lay in the line of march.

Any violation of this order was punished with death.58 The soldier was

clothed and fed by the industry of the people, and the Incas rightly re-

solved that he should not repay this by violence. Far from being a tax on

the labors of the husbandman, or even a burden on his hospitality, the

imperial armies traversed the country, from one extremity to the other,

with as little inconvenience to the inhabitants, as would be created by a

procession of peaceful burghers, or a muster of holiday soldiers for a

review.

From the moment war was proclaimed, the Peruvian monarch used all

possible expedition in assembling his forces, that he might anticipate the

movements of his enemies, and prevent a combination with their allies.

It was, however, from the neglect of such a principle of combination, that

the several nations of the country, who might have prevailed by

confederated strength, fell one after another under the imperial yoke.

Yet, once in the field the Inca did not usually show any disposition to

push his advantages to the utmost, and urge his foe to extremity. In

every stage of the war, he was open to propositions for peace; and

although he sought to reduce his enemies by carrying off their harvests

and distressing them by famine, he allowed his troops to commit no

unnecessary outrage on person or property. "We must spare our

enemies," one of the Peruvian princes is quoted as saying, "or it will be

our loss, since they and all that belong to them must soon be ours." 59 It

was a wise maxim, and, like most other wise maxims, founded equally on

benevolence and prudence. The Incas adopted the policy claimed for the

Romans by their countryman, who tells us that they gained more by

clemency to the vanquished than by their victories.60

In the same considerate spirit, they were most careful to provide for the

security and comfort of their own troops; and, when a war was long

protracted, or the climate proved unhealthy, they took care to relieve

their men by frequent reinforcements, allowing the earlier recruits to

return to their homes.61 But while thus economical of life, both in their

own followers and in the enemy, they did not shrink from sterner

measures when provoked by the ferocious or obstinate character of the

resistance; and the Peruvian annals contain more than one of those

sanguinary pages which cannot be pondered at the present day without a

shudder. It should be added, that the beneficent policy, which I have

been delineating as characteristic of the Incas, did not belong to all; and

that there was more than one of the royal line who displayed a full

measure of the bold and unscrupulous spirit of the vulgar conqueror.

The first step of the government, after the reduction of a country, was to

introduce there the worship of the Sun. Temples were erected, and

placed under the care of a numerous priesthood, who expounded to the

conquered people the mysteries of their new faith, and dazzled them by

the display of its rich and stately ceremonial.62 Yet the religion of the

conquered was not treated with dishonor. The Sun was to be worshipped

above all; but the images of their gods were removed to Cuzco and

established in one of the temples, to hold their rank among the inferior

deities of the Peruvian Pantheon. Here they remained as hostages, in

some sort, for the conquered nation, which would be the less inclined to

forsake its allegiance, when by doing so it must leave its own gods in the

hands of its enemies.63

The Incas provided for the settlement of their new conquests, by

ordering a census to be taken of the population, and a careful survey to

be made of the country, ascertaining its products, and the character and

capacity of its soil.64 A division of the territory was then made on the

same principle with that adopted throughout their own kingdom; and

their respective portions were assigned to the Sun, the sovereign, and the

people. The amount of the last was regulated by the amount of the

population, but the share of each individual was uniformly the same. It

may seem strange, that any people should patiently have acquiesced in an

arrangement which involved such a total surrender of property. But it

was a conquered nation that did so, held in awe, on the least suspicion of

meditating resistance, by armed garrisons, who were established at

various commanding points throughout the country.65 It is probable,

too, that the Incas made no greater changes than was essential to the new

arrangement, and that they assigned estates, as far as possible, to their

former proprietors. The curacas, in particular, were confirmed in their

ancient authority; or, when it was found expedient to depose the existing

curaca, his rightful heir was allowed to succeed him.66 Every respect

was shown to the ancient usages and laws of the land, as far as was

compatible with the fundamental institutions of the Incas. It must also be

remembered, that the conquered tribes were, many of them, too little

advanced in civilization to possess that attachment to the soil which

belongs to a cultivated nation.67 But, to whatever it be referred, it seems

probable that the extraordinary institutions of the Incas were established

with little opposition in the conquered territories.68

Yet the Peruvian sovereigns did not trust altogether to this show of

obedience in their new vassals; and, to secure it more effectually, they

adopted some expedients too remarkable to be passed by in silence.-

Immediately after a recent conquest, the curacas and their families were

removed for a time to Cuzco. Here they learned the language of the

capital, became familiar with the manners and usages of the court, as

well as with the general policy of government, and experienced such

marks of favor from the sovereign as would be most grateful to their

feelings, and might attach them most warmly to his person. Under the

influence of these sentiments, they were again sent to rule over their

vassals, but still leaving their eldest sons in the capital, to remain there as

a guaranty for their own fidelity, as well as to grace the court of the

Inca.69

Another expedient was of a bolder and more original character. This

was nothing less than to revolutionize the language of the country. South

America, like North, was broken up into a great variety of dialects, or

rather languages, having little affinity with one another. This

circumstance occasioned great embarrassment to the government in the

administration of the different provinces, with whose idioms they were

unacquainted. It was determined, therefore, to substitute one universal

language, the Quichua,--the language of the court, the capital, and the

surrounding country,--the richest and most comprehensive of the South

American dialects. Teachers were provided in the towns and villages

throughout the land, who were to give instruction to all, even the

humblest classes; and it was intimated at the same time, that no one

should be raised to any office of dignity or profit, who was unacquainted

with this tongue. The curacas and other chiefs, who attended at the

capital became familiar with this dialect in their intercourse with the

Court and, on their return home, set the example of conversing in it

among themselves. This example was imitated by their followers, and

the Quichua gradually became the language of elegance and fashion, in

the same manner as the Norman French was affected by all those who

aspired to any consideration in England, after the Conquest. By this

means, while each province retained its peculiar tongue, a beautiful

medium of communication was introduced, which enabled the

inhabitants of one part of the country to hold intercourse with every

other, and the Inca and his deputies to communicate with all. This was

the state of things on the arrival of the Spaniards. It must be admitted,

that history furnishes few examples of more absolute authority than such

a revolution in the language of an empire, at the bidding of a master.70

Yet little less remarkable was another device of the Incas for securing the

loyalty of their subjects. When any portion of the recent conquests

showed a pertinacious spirit of disaffection, it was not uncommon to

cause a part of the population, amounting, it might be, to ten thousand

inhabitants or more, to remove to a distant quarter of the kingdom,

occupied by ancient vassals of undoubted fidelity to the crown. A like

number of these last was transplanted to the territory left vacant by the

emigrants. By this exchange, the population was composed of two

distinct races, who regarded each other with an eye of jealousy, that

served as an effectual check on any mutinous proceeding. In time, the

influence of the well affected prevailed, supported, as they were, by

royal authority, and by the silent working of the national institutions, to

which the strange races became gradually accustomed. A spirit of

loyalty sprang up by degrees in their bosoms, and, before a generation

had passed away, the different tribes mingled in harmony together as

members of the same community.71 Yet the different races continued to

be distinguished by difference of dress; since, by the law of the land,

every citizen was required to wear the costume of his native province.72

Neither could the colonist, who had been thus unceremoniously

transplanted, return to his native district for, by another law, it was

forbidden to any one to change his residence without license.73 He was

settled for life. The Peruvian government ascribed to every man his

local habitation, his sphere of action, nay, the very nature and quality of

that action. He ceased to be a free agent; it might be almost said, that it

relieved him of personal responsibility.

In following out this singular arrangement, the Incas showed as much

regard for the comfort and convenience of the colonist as was compatible

with the execution of their design. They were careful that the mitimaes,

as these emigrants were styled, should be removed to climates most

congenial with their own. The inhabitants of the cold countries were not

transplanted to the warm, nor the inhabitants of the warm countries to the

cold.74 Even their habitual occupations were consulted, and the

fisherman was settled in the neighborhood of the ocean, or the great

lakes; while such lands were assigned to the husbandman as were best

adapted to the culture with which he was most familiar.75 And, as

migration by many, perhaps by most, would be regarded as a calamity,

the government was careful to show particular marks of favor to the

mitimaes, and, by various privileges and immunities, to ameliorate their

condition, and thus to reconcile them, if possible, to their lot.76

The Peruvian institutions, though they may have been modified and

matured under successive sovereigns, all bear the stamp of the same

original,--were all cast in the same mould. The empire, strengthening

and enlarging at every successive epoch of its history, was, in its latter

days, but the development, on a great scale, of what it was in miniature at

its commencement, as the infant germ is said to contain within itself all

the ramifications of the future monarch of the forest. Each succeeding

Inca seemed desirous only to tread in the path, and carry out the plans, of

his predecessor. Great enterprises, commenced under one, were

continued by another, and completed by a third. Thus, while all acted on

a regular plan, without any of the eccentric or retrograde movements

which betray the agency of different individuals, the state seemed to be

under the direction of a single hand, and steadily pursued, as if through

one long reign, its great career of civilization and of conquest.

The ultimate aim of its institutions was domestic quiet. But it seemed as

if this were to be obtained only by foreign war. Tranquillity in the heart

of the monarchy, and war on its borders, was the condition of Peru. By

this war it gave occupation to a part of its people, and, by the reduction

and civilization of its barbarous neighbors, gave security to all. Every

Inca sovereign, however mild and benevolent in his domestic rule, was a

warrior, and led his armies in person. Each successive reign extended

still wider the boundaries of the empire. Year after year saw the

victorious monarch return laden with spoils, and followed by a throng of

tributary chieftains to his capital. His reception there was a Roman

triumph. The whole of its numerous population poured out to welcome

him, dressed in the gay and picturesque costumes of the different

provinces, With banners waving above their heads, and strewing

branches and flowers along the path of the conqueror. The Inca, borne

aloft in his golden chair on the shoulders of his nobles, moved in solemn

procession, under the triumphal arches that were thrown across the way,

to the great temple of the Sun. There, without attendants,--for all but the

monarch were excluded from the hallowed precincts,--the victorious

prince, stripped of his royal insignia, barefooted, and with all humility,

approached the awful shrine, and offered up sacrifice and thanksgiving

to the glorious Deity who presided over the fortunes of the Incas. This

ceremony concluded, the whole population gave itself up to festivity;

music, revelry, and dancing were heard in every quarter of the capital,

and illuminations and bonfires commemorated the victorious campaign

of the Inca, and the accession of a new territory to his empire.77

In this celebration we see much of the character of a religious festival.

Indeed, the character of religion was impressed on all the Peruvian wars.

The life of an Inca was one long crusade against the infidel, to spread

wide the worship of the Sun, to reclaim the benighted nations from their

brutish superstitions, and impart to them the blessings of a well-regulated

government. This, in the favorite phrase of our day, was the "mission"

of the Inca. It was also the mission of the Christian conqueror who

invaded the empire of this same Indian potentate. Which of the two

executed his mission most faithfully, history must decide.

Yet the Peruvian monarchs did not show a childish impatience in the

acquisition of empire. They paused after a campaign, and allowed time

for the settlement of one conquest before they undertook another; and, in

this interval, occupied themselves with the quiet administration of their

kingdom, and with the long progresses, which brought them into nearer

intercourse with their people. During this interval, also, their new

vassals had begun to accommodate themselves to the strange institutions

of their masters. They learned to appreciate the value of a government

which raised them above the physical evils of a state of barbarism,

secured them protection of person, and a full participation in all the

privileges enjoyed by their conquerors; and, as they became more

familiar with the peculiar institutions of the country, habit, that second

nature, attached them the more strongly to these institutions, from their

very peculiarity. Thus, by degrees, and without violence, arose the great

fabric of the Peruvian empire, composed of numerous independent and

even hostile tribes, yet, under the influence of a common religion,

common language, and common government, knit together as one nation,

animated by a spirit of love for its institutions and devoted loyalty to its

sovereign. What a contrast to the condition of the Aztec monarchy, on

the neighboring continent, which, composed of the like heterogeneous

materials, without any internal principle of cohesion, was only held

together by the stern pressure, from without, of physical force !--Why the

Peruvian monarchy should have fared no better than its rival, in its

conflict with European civilization, will appear in the following pages.

Book 1

Chapter 3

Peruvian Religion--Deities--Gorgeous Temples--Festivals-

Virgins Of The Sun--Marriage

It is a remarkable fact, that many, if not most, of the rude tribes

inhabiting the vast American continent, however disfigured their creeds

may have been in other respects by a childish superstition, had attained

to the sublime conception of one Great Spirit, the Creator of the

Universe, who, immaterial in his own nature, was not to be dishonored

by an attempt at visible representation, and who, pervading all space,

was not to be circumscribed within the walls of a temple. Yet these

elevated ideas, so far beyond the ordinary range of the untutored

intellect, do not seem to have led to the practical consequences that

might have been expected; and few of the American nations have shown

much solicitude for the maintenance of a religious worship, or found in

their faith a powerful spring of action.

But, with progress in civilization, ideas more akin to those of civilized

communities were gradually unfolded; a liberal provision was made, and

a separate order instituted, for the services of religion, which were

conducted with a minute and magnificent ceremonial, that challenged

comparison, in some respects, with that of the most polished nations of

Christendom. This was the case with the nations inhabiting the table-

land of North America, and with the natives of Bogota, Quito, Peru, and

the other elevated regions on the great Southern continent. It was, above

all, the case with the Peruvians, who claimed a divine original for the

founders of their empire, whose laws all rested on a divine sanction, and

whose domestic institutions and foreign wars were alike directed to

preserve and propagate their faith. Religion was the basis of their polity,

the very condition, as it were, of their social existence. The government

of the Incas, in its essential principles, was a theocracy.

Yet, though religion entered so largely into the fabric and conduct of the

political institutions of the people, their mythology, that is, the

traditionary legends by which they affected to unfold the mysteries of the

universe, was exceedingly mean and puerile. Scarce one of their

traditions--except the beautiful one respecting the founders of their royal

dynasty--is worthy of note, or throws much light on their own antiquities,

or the primitive history of man. Among the traditions of importance is

one of the deluge, which they held in common with so many of the

nations in all parts of the globe, and which they related with some

particulars that bear resemblance to a Mexican legend.1

Their ideas in respect to a future state of being deserve more attention.

They admitted the existence of a soul hereafter, and connected with this

a belief in the resurrection of the body. They assigned two distinct

places for the residence of the good and of the wicked, the latter of

which they fixed in the centre of the earth. The good they supposed were

to pass a luxurious life of tranquillity and ease, which comprehended

their highest notions of happiness. The wicked were to expiate their

crimes by ages of wearisome labor. They associated with these ideas a

belief in an evil principle or spirit, bearing the name of Cupay, whom

they did not attempt to propitiate by sacrifices, and who seems to have

been only a shadowy personification of sin, that exercised little influence

over their conduct.2

It was this belief in the resurrection of the body, which led them to

preserve the body with so much solicitude, by a simple process,

however, that, unlike the elaborate embalming of the Egyptians,

consisted in exposing it to the action of the cold, exceedingly dry, and

highly rarefied atmosphere of the mountains.3 As they believed that the

occupations in the future world would have great resemblance to those of

the present, they buried with the deceased noble some of his apparel, his

utensils, and, frequently, his treasures; and completed the gloomy

ceremony by sacrificing his wives and favorite domestics, to bear him

company and do him service in the happy regions beyond the clouds.4

Vast mounds of an irregular, or, more frequently, oblong shape,

penetrated by galleries running at right angles to each other, were raised

over the dead, whose dried bodies or mummies have been found in

considerable numbers, sometimes erect, but more often in the sitting

posture, common to the Indian tribes of both continents. Treasures of

great value have also been occasionally drawn from these monumental

deposits, and have stimulated, speculators to repeated excavations with

the hope of similar good-fortune. It was a lottery like that of searching

after mines, but where the chances have proved still more against the

adventurers.5

The Peruvians, like so many other of the Indian races, acknowledged a

Supreme Being, the Creator and Ruler of the Universe, whom they

adored under the different names of Pachacamac and Viracocha.6 No

temple was raised to this invisible Being, save one only in the valley

which took its name from the deity himself, not far from the Spanish city

of Lima. Even this temple had existed there before the country came

under the sway of the Incas, and was the great resort of Indian pilgrims

from remote parts of the land; a circumstance which suggests the idea,

that the worship of this Great Spirit, though countenanced, perhaps, by

their accommodating policy, did not originate with the Peruvian

princes.7

The deity whose worship they especially inculcated, and which they

never failed to establish wherever their banners were known to penetrate,

was the Sun. It was he, who, in a particular manner, presided over the

destinies of man; gave light and warmth to the nations, and life to the

vegetable world; whom they reverenced as the father of their royal

dynasty, the founder of their empire; and whose temples rose in every

city and almost every village throughout the land, while his altars

smoked with burnt offerings,--a form of sacrifice peculiar to the

Peruvians among the semi-civilized nations of the New World.8

Besides the Sun, the Incas acknowledged various objects of worship in

some way or other connected with this principal deity. Such was the

Moon, his sister-wife; the Stars, revered as part of her heavenly train,-

though the fairest of them, Venus, known to the Peruvians by the name

of Chasca, or the "youth with the long and curling locks," was adored as

the page of the Sun, whom he attends so closely in his rising and in his

setting. They dedicated temples also to the Thunder and Lightning,9 in

whom they recognized the Sun's dread ministers, and to the Rainbows

whom they worshipped as a beautiful emanation of their glorious

deity.10

In addition to these, the subjects of the Incas enrolled among their

inferior deities many objects in nature, as the elements, the winds, the

earth, the air, great mountains and rivers, which impressed them with

ideas of sublimity and power, or were supposed in some way or other to

exercise a mysterious influence over the destinies of man.11 They

adopted also a notion, not unlike that professed by some of the schools

of ancient philosophy, that every thing on earth had its archetype or idea,

its mother, as they emphatically styled it, which they held sacred, as, in

some sort, its spiritual essence.12 But their system, far from being

limited even to these multiplied objects of devotion, embraced within its

ample folds the numerous deities of the conquered nations, whose

images were transported to the capital, where the burdensome charges of

their worship were defrayed by their respective provinces. It was a rare

stroke of policy in the Incas, who could thus accommodate their religion

to their interests.13

But the worship of the Sun constituted the peculiar care of the Incas, and

was the object of their lavish expenditure. The most ancient of the many

temples dedicated to this divinity was in the Island of Titicaca, whence

the royal founders of the Peruvian line were said to have proceeded.

From this circumstance, this sanctuary was held in peculiar veneration.

Every thing which belonged to it, even the broad fields of maize, which

Surrounded the temple, and formed part of its domain, imbibed a portion

of its sanctity. The yearly produce was distributed among the different

public magazines, in small quantities to each, as something that would

sanctify the remainder of the store. Happy was the man who could

secure even an ear of the blessed harvest for his own granary! 14

But the most renowned of the Peruvian temples, the pride of the capital,

and the wonder of the empire, was at Cuzco, where, under the

munificence of successive sovereigns, it had become so enriched, that it

received the name of Coricancha, or "the Place of Gold." It consisted of

a principal building and several chapels and inferior edifices, covering a

large extent of ground in the heart of the city, and completely

encompassed by a wall, which, with the edifices, was all constructed of

stone. The work was of the kind already described in the other public

buildings of the country, and was so finely executed, that a Spaniard,

who saw it in its glory, assures us, he could call to mind only two

edifices in Spain, which, for their workmanship, were at all to be

compared with it.15 Yet this substantial, and, in some respects,

magnificent structure, was thatched with straw !

The interior of the temple was the most worthy of admiration. It was

literally a mine of gold. On the western wall was emblazoned a

representation of the deity, consisting of a human countenance, looking

forth from amidst innumerable rays of light, which emanated from it in

every direction, in the same manner as the sun is often personified with

us. The figure was engraved on a massive plate of gold of enormous

dimensions, thickly powdered with emeralds and precious stones.16 It

was so situated in front of the great eastern portal, that the rays of the

morning sun fell directly upon it at its rising, lighting up the whole

apartment with an effulgence that seemed more than natural, and which

was reflected back from the golden ornaments with which the walls and

ceiling were everywhere in crusted. Gold, in the figurative language of

the people was "the tears wept by the sun," 17 and every part of the

interior of the temple glowed with burnished plates and studs of the

precious metal. The cornices, which surrounded the walls of the

sanctuary, were of the same costly material; and a broad belt or frieze of

gold, let into the stonework, encompassed the whole exterior of the

edifice.18

Adjoining the principal structure were several chapels of smaller

dimensions. One of them was consecrated to the Moon, the deity held

next in reverence, as the mother of the Incas. Her effigy was delineated

in the same manner as that of the Sun, on a vast plate that nearly covered

one side of the apartment. But this plate, as well as all the decorations of

the building, was of silver, as suited to the pale, silvery light of the

beautiful planet. There were three other chapels, one of which was

dedicated to the host of Stars, who formed the bright court of the Sister

of the Sun; another was consecrated to his dread ministers of vengeance,

the Thunder and the Lightning; and a third, to the Rainbow, whose

many-colored arch spanned the walls of the edifice with hues almost as

radiant as its own. There were besides several other buildings, or

insulated apartments, for the accommodation of the numerous priests

who officiated in the services of the temple.19

All the plate, the ornaments, the utensils of every description,

appropriated to the uses of religion, were of gold or silver. Twelve

immense vases of the latter metal stood on the floor of the great saloon,

filled with grain of the Indian corn;20 the censers for the perfumes, the

ewers which held the water for sacrifice, the pipes which conducted it

through subterraneous channels into the buildings, the reservoirs that

received it, even the agricultural implements used in the gardens of the

temple, were all of the same rich materials. The gardens, like those

described, belonging to the royal palaces, sparkled with flowers of gold

and silver, and various imitations of the vegetable kingdom. Animals,

also, were to be found there,--among which the llama, with its golden

fleece, was most conspicuous,--executed in the same style, and with a

degree of skill, which, in this instance, probably, did not surpass the

excellence of the material.21

If the reader sees in this fairy picture only the romantic coloring of some

fabulous El Dorado, he must recall what has been said before in

reference to the palaces of the Incas, and consider that these "Houses of

the Sun," as they were styled, were the common reservoir into which

flowed all the streams of public and private benefaction throughout the

empire. Some of the statements, through credulity, and others, in the

desire of exciting admiration, may be greatly exaggerated; but, in the

coincidence of contemporary testimony, it is not easy to determine the

exact line which should mark the measure of our skepticism. Certain it

is, that the glowing picture I have given is warranted by those who saw

these buildings in their pride, or shortly after they had been despoiled by

the cupidity of their countrymen. Many of the costly articles were buried

by the natives, or thrown into the waters of the rivers and the lakes; but

enough remained to attest the unprecedented opulence of these religious

establishments. Such things as were in their nature portable were

speedily removed, to gratify the craving of the Conquerors, who even

tore away the solid cornices and frieze of gold from the great temple,

filling the vacant places with the cheaper, but--since it affords no

temptation to avarice--more durable, material of plaster. Yet even thus

shorn of their splendor, the venerable edifices still presented an

attraction to the spoiler, who found in their dilapidated walls an

inexhaustable quarry for the erection of other buildings. On the very

ground once crowned by the gorgeous Coricancha rose the stately church

of St. Dominic, one of the most magnificent structures of the New

World. Fields of maize and lucerne now bloom on the spot which

glowed with the golden gardens of the temple; and the friar chants his

orisons within the consecrated precincts once occupied by the Children

of the Sun.22

Besides the great temple of the Sun, there was a large number of inferior

temples and religious houses in the Peruvian capital and its environs,

amounting, as is stated, to three or four hundred.23 For Cuzco was a

sanctified spot, venerated not only as the abode of the Incas, but of all

those deities who presided over the motley nations of the empire. It was

the city beloved of the Sun; where his worship was maintained in its

splendor; "where every fountain, pathway, and wall," says an ancient

chronicler, "was regarded as a holy mystery." 24 And unfortunate was

the Indian noble who, at some period or other of his life, had not made

his pilgrimage to the Peruvian Mecca.

Other temples and religious dwellings were scattered over the provinces;

and some of them constructed on a scale of magnificence, that almost

rivalled that of the metropolis. The attendants on these composed an

army of themselves. The whole number of functionaries, including those

of the sacerdotal order, who officiated at the Coricancha alone, was no

less than four thousand.25

At the head of all, both here and throughout the land, stood the great

High-Priest, or Villac Vmu, as he was called. He was second only to the

Inca in dignity, and was usually chosen from his brothers or nearest

kindred. He was appointed by the monarch, and held his office for life;

and he, in turn, appointed to all the subordinate stations of his own order.

This order was very numerous. Those members of it who officiated in

the House of the Sun, in Cuzco, were taken exclusively from the sacred

race of the Incas. The ministers in the provincial temples were drawn

from the families of the curacas; but the office of high-priest in each

district was reserved for one of the blood royal. It was designed by this

regulation to preserve the faith in its purity, and to guard against any

departure from the stately ceremonial which it punctiliously

prescribed.26

The sacerdotal order, though numerous, was not distinguished by any

peculiar badge or costume from the rest of the nation. Neither was it the

sole depository of the scanty science of the country, nor was it charged

with the business of instruction, nor with those parochial duties, if they

may so be called, which bring the priest in contact with the great body of

the people,--as was the case in Mexico. The cause of this peculiarity

may probably be traced to the existence of a superior order, like that of

the Inca nobles, whose sanctity of birth so far transcended all human

appointments, that they in a manner engrossed whatever there was of

religious veneration in the people. They were, in fact, the holy order of

the state. Doubtless, any of them might, as very many of them did, take

on themselves the sacerdotal functions; and their own insignia and

peculiar privileges were too well understood to require any further badge

to separate them from the people.

The duties of the priest were confined to ministration in the temple.

Even here his attendance was not constant, as he was relieved after a

stated interval by other brethren of his order, who succeeded one another

in regular rotation. His science was limited to an acquaintance with the

fasts and festivals of his religion, and the appropriate ceremonies which

distinguished them. This, however frivolous might be its character, was

no easy acquisition; for the ritual of the Incas involved a routine of

observances, as complex and elaborate as ever distinguished that of any

nation, whether pagan or Christian. Each month had its appropriate

festival, or rather festivals. The four principal had reference to the Sun,

and commemorated the great periods of his annual progress, the solstices

and equinoxes. Perhaps the most magnificent of all the national

solemnities was the feast of Raymi, held at the period of the summer

solstice, when the Sun, having touched the southern extremity of his

course, retraced his path, as if to gladden the hearts of his chosen people

by his presence. On this occasion, the Indian nobles from the different

quarters of the country thronged to the capital to take part in the great

religious celebration.

For three days previous, there was a general fast, and no fire was allowed

to be lighted in the dwellings. When the appointed day arrived, the Inca

and his court, followed by the whole population of the city, assembled at

early dawn in the great square to greet the rising of the Sun. They were

dressed in their gayest apparel, and the Indian lords vied with each other

in the display of costly ornaments and jewels on their persons, while

canopies of gaudy feather-work and richly tinted stuffs, borne by the

attendants over their heads, gave to the great square, and the streets that

emptied into it, the appearance of being spread over with one vast and

magnificent awning. Eagerly they watched the coming of their deity,

and, no sooner did his first yellow rays strike the turrets and loftiest

buildings of the capital, than a shout of gratulation broke forth from the

assembled multitude, accompanied by songs of triumph, and the wild

melody of barbaric instruments, that swelled louder and louder as his

bright orb, rising above the mountain range towards the east, shone in

full splendor on his votaries. After the usual ceremonies of adoration, a

libation was offered to the great deity by the Inca, from a huge golden

vase, filled with the fermented liquor of maize or of maguey, which,

after the monarch had tasted it himself, he dispensed among his royal

kindred. These ceremonies completed, the vast assembly was arranged

in order of procession, and took its way towards the Coricancha.27

As they entered the street of the sacred edifice, all divested themselves of

their sandals, except the Inca and his family, who did the same on

passing through the portals of the temple, where none but these august

personages were admitted.28 After a decent time spent in devotion, the

sovereign, attended by his courtly train, again appeared, and preparations

were made to commence the sacrifice. This, with the Peruvians,

consisted of animals, grain, flowers, and sweet-scented gums; sometimes

of human beings, on which occasions a child or beautiful maiden was

usually selected as the victim. But such sacrifices were rare, being

reserved to celebrate some great public event, as a coronation, the birth

of a royal heir, or a great victory. They were never followed by those

cannibal repasts familiar to the Mexicans, and to many of the fierce

tribes conquered by the Incas. Indeed, the conquests of these princes

might well be deemed a blessing to the Indian nations, if it were only

from their suppression of cannibalism, and the diminution, under their

rule, of human sacrifices.29

At the feast of Raymi, the sacrifice usually offered was that of the llama;

and the priest, after opening the body of his victim, sought in the

appearances which it exhibited to read the lesson of the mysterious

future. If the auguries were unpropitious, a second victim was

slaughtered, in the hope of receiving some more comfortable assurance.

The Peruvian augur might have learned a good lesson of the Roman,--to

consider every omen as favorable, which served the interests of his

country.30

A fire was then kindled by means of a concave mirror of polished metal,

which, collecting the rays of the sun into a focus upon a quantity of dried

cotton, speedily set it on fire. It was the expedient used on the like

occasions in ancient Rome, at least under the reign of the pious Numa.

When the sky was overcast, and the face of the good deity was hidden

from his worshippers, which was esteemed a bad omen, fire was

obtained by means of friction. The sacred flame was intrusted to the care

of the Virgins of the Sun, and if, by any neglect, it was suffered to go out

in the course of the year, the event was regarded as a calamity that boded

some strange disaster to the monarchy.31 A burnt offering of the victims

was then made on the altars of the deity. This sacrifice was but the

prelude to the slaughter of a great number of llamas, part of the flocks of

the Sun, which furnished a banquet not only for the Inca and his Court,

but for the people, who made amends at these festivals for the frugal fare

to which they were usually condemned. A fine bread or cake, kneaded

of maize flour by the fair hands of the Virgins of the Sun, was also

placed on the royal board, where the Inca, presiding over the feast,

pledged his great nobles in generous goblets of the fermented liquor of

the country, and the long revelry of the day was closed at night by music

and dancing. Dancing and drinking were the favorite pastimes of the

Peruvians. These amusements continued for several days, though the

sacrifices terminated on the first.--Such was the great festival of Raymi;

and the recurrence of this and similar festivities gave relief to the

monotonous routine of toil prescribed to the lower orders of the

community.32

In the distribution of bread and wine at this high festival, the orthodox

Spaniards, who first came into the country, saw a striking resemblance to

the Christian communion; 33 as in the practice of confession and

penance, which, in a most irregular form, indeed, seems to have been

used by the Peruvians, they discerned a coincidence with another of the

sacraments of the Church.34 The good fathers were fond of tracing such

coincidences, which they considered as the contrivance of Satan, who

thus endeavored to delude his victims by counterfeiting the blessed rites

of Christianity.35 Others, in a different vein, imagined that they saw in

such analogies the evidence, that some of the primitive teachers of the

Gospel, perhaps an apostle himself, had paid a visit to these distant

regions, and scattered over them the seeds of religious truth.36 But it

seems hardly necessary to invoke the Prince of Darkness, or the

intervention of the blessed saints, to account for coincidences which

have existed in countries far removed from the light of Christianity, and

in ages, indeed, when its light had not yet risen on the world. It is much

more reasonable to refer such casual points of resemblance to the general

constitution of man, and the necessities of his moral nature.37

Another singular analogy with Roman Catholic institutions is presented

by the Virgins of the Sun, the "elect," as they were called,38 to whom I

have already had occasion to refer. These were young maidens,

dedicated to the service of the deity, who, at a tender age, were taken

from their homes, and introduced into convents, where they were placed

under the care of certain elderly matrons, mamaconas, who had grown

grey within their walls.39 Under these venerable guides, the holy virgins

were instructed in the nature of their religious duties. They were

employed in spinning and embroidery, and, with the fine hair of the

vicuna wove the hangings for the temples, and the apparel for the Inca

and his household.40 It was their duty, above all, to watch over the

sacred fire obtained at the festival of Raymi. From the moment they

entered the establishment, they were cut off from all connection with the

world, even with their own family and friends. No one but the Inca, and

the Coya or queen, might enter the consecrated precincts. The greatest

attention was paid to their morals, and visitors were sent every year to

inspect the institutions, and to report on the state of their discipline.41

Woe to the unhappy maiden who was detected in an intrigue! By the

stern law of the Incas, she was to be buried alive, her lover was to be

strangled, and the town or village to which he belonged was to be razed

to the ground, and "sowed with stones," as if to efface every memorial of

his existence.42 One is astonished to find so close a resemblance

between the institutions of the American Indian, the ancient Roman, and

the modern Catholic! Chastity and purity of life are virtues in woman,

that would seem to be of equal estimation with the barbarian and with the

civilized.--Yet the ultimate destination of the inmates of these religious

houses was materially different.

The great establishment at Cuzco consisted wholly of maidens of the

royal blood, who amounted, it is said, to no less than fifteen hundred.

The provincial convents were supplied from the daughters of the curacas

and inferior nobles, and, occasionally, where a girl was recommended by

great personal attractions, from the lower classes of the people.43 The

"Houses of the Virgins of the Sun" consisted of low ranges of stone

buildings, covering a large extent of ground, surrounded by high walls,

which excluded those within entirely from observation. They were

provided with every accommodation for the fair inmates, and were

embellished in the same sumptuous and costly manner as the palaces of

the Incas, and the temples; for they received the particular care of

government, as an important part of the religious establishment.44

Yet the career of all the inhabitants of these cloisters was not confined

within their narrow walls. Though Virgins of the Sun, they were brides

of the Inca, and, at a marriageable age, the most beautiful among them

were selected for the honors of his bed, and transferred to the royal

seraglio. The full complement of this amounted in time not only to

hundreds, but thousands, who all found accommodations in his different

palaces throughout the country. When the monarch was disposed to

lessen the number of his establishment, the concubine with whose society

he was willing to dispense returned, not to her former monastic

residence, but to her own home; where, however humble might be her

original condition, she was maintained in great state, and, far from being

dishonored by the situation she had filled, was held in universal

reverence as the Inca's bride.45

The great nobles of Peru were allowed, like their sovereign, a plurality of

wives. The people, generally, whether by law, or by necessity stronger

than law, were more happily limited to one. Marriage was conducted in

a manner that gave it quite as original a character as belonged to the

other institutions of the country. On an appointed day of the year, all

those of a marriageable age--which, having reference to their ability to

take charge of a family, in the males was fixed at not less than

twentyfour years, and in the women at eighteen or twenty--were called

together in the great squares of their respective towns and villages,

throughout the empire. The Inca presided in person over the assembly of

his own kindred, and taking the hands of the different couples who were

to be united, he placed them within each other, declaring the parties man

and wife. The same was done by the curacas towards all persons of their

own or inferior degree in their several districts. This was the simple

form of marriage in Peru. No one was allowed to select a wife beyond

the community to which he belonged, which generally comprehended all

his own kindred; 46 nor was any but the sovereign authorized to dispense

with the law of nature--or at least, the usual law of nations--so far as to

marry his own sister.47 No marriage was esteemed valid without the

consent of the parents; and the preference of the parties, it is said, was

also to be consulted; though, considering the barriers imposed by the

prescribed age of the candidates, this must have been within rather

narrow and whimsical limits. A dwelling was got ready for the new-

married pair at the charge of the district, and the prescribed portion of

land assigned for their maintenance. The law of Peru provided for the

future, as well as for the present. It left nothing to chance.--The simple

ceremony of marriage was followed by general festivities among the

friends of the parties, which lasted several days; and as every wedding

took place on the same day, and as there were few families who had not

someone of their members or their kindred personally interested, there

was one universal bridal jubilee throughout the empire.48

The extraordinary regulations respecting marriage under the Incas are,

eminently characteristic of the genius of the government; which, far from

limiting itself to matters of public concern, penetrated into the most

private recesses of domestic life, allowing no man, however humble, to

act for himself, even in those personal matters in which none but himself,

or his family at most, might be supposed to be interested. No Peruvian

was too low for the fostering vigilance of government. None was so high

that he was not made to feel his dependence upon it in every act of his

life. His very existence as an individual was absorbed in that of the

community. His hopes and his fears, his joys and his sorrows, the

tenderest sympathies of his nature, which would most naturally shrink

from observation, were all to be regulated by law. He was not allowed

even to be happy in his own way. The government of the Incas was the

mildest, --but the most searching of despotisms.

Book 1

Chapter 4

Education--Quipus-Astronomy-Agriculture--Aqueducts-Guano--

Important Esculents

"Science was not intended for the people; but for those of generous

blood. Persons of low degree are only puffed up by it, and rendered

vain and arrogant. Neither should such meddle with the affairs of

government; for this would bring high offices into disrepute, and cause

detriment to the state.1 Such was the favorite maxim, often repeated, of

Tupac Inca Yupanqui, one of the most renowned of the Peruvian

sovereigns. It may seem strange that such a maxim should ever have

been proclaimed in the New World, where popular institutions have been

established on a more extensive scale than was ever before witnessed;

where government rests wholly on the people; and education--at least, in

the great northern division of the continent--is mainly directed to qualify

the people for the duties of government. Yet this maxim was strictly

conformable to the genius of the Peruvian monarchy, and may serve as a

key to its habitual policy; since, while it watched with unwearied

solicitude over its subjects, provided for their physical necessities, was

mindful of their morals, and showed, throughout, the affectionate

concern of a parent for his children, it yet regarded them only as

children, who were never to emerge from the state of pupilage, to act or

to think for themselves, but whose whole duty was comprehended in the

obligation of implicit obedience.

Such was the humiliating condition of the people under the Incas: while

the numerous families of the blood royal enjoyed the benefit of all the

light of education, which the civilization of the country could afford;

and, long after the Conquest, the spots continued to be pointed out where

the seminaries had existed for their instruction. These were placed

under the care of the amautas, or "wise men," who engrossed the scanty

stock of science--if science it could be called--possessed by the

Peruvians, and who were the sole teachers of youth. It was natural that

the monarch should take a lively interest in the instruction of the young

nobility, his own kindred. Several of the Peruvian princes are said to

have built their palaces in the neighborhood of the schools, in order that

they might the more easily visit them and listen to the lectures of the

amautas, which they occasionally reinforced by a homily of their own.2

In these schools, the royal pupils were instructed in all the different kinds

of knowledge in which their teachers were versed, with especial

reference to the stations they were to occupy in after-life. They studied

the laws, and the principles of administering the government, in which

many of them were to take part. They were initiated in the peculiar rites

of their religion, most necessary to those who were to assume the

sacerdotal functions. They learned also to emulate the achievements of

their royal ancestors by listening to the chronicles compiled by the

amautas. They were taught to speak their own dialect with purity and

elegance; and they became acquainted with the mysterious science of the

quipus, which supplied the Peruvians with the means of communicating

their ideas to one another, and of transmitting them to future

generations.3

The quipu was a cord about two feet long, composed of different colored

threads tightly twisted together, from which a quantity of smaller threads

were suspended in the manner of a fringe. The threads were of different

colors and were tied into knots. The word quipu, indeed, signifies a

knot. The colors denoted sensible objects; as, for instance, white

represented silver, and yellow, gold. They sometimes also stood for

abstract ideas. Thus, white signified peace, and red, war. But the

quipus were chiefly used for arithmetical purposes. The knots served

instead of ciphers, and could be combined in such a manner as to

represent numbers to any amount they required. By means of these they

went through their calculations with great rapidity, and the Spaniards

who first visited the country bear testimony to their accuracy.4

Officers were established in each of the districts, who, under the title of

quipucamayus, Or "keepers of the quipus," were required to furnish the

government with information on various important matters. One had

charge of the revenues, reported the quantity of raw material distributed

among the laborers, the quality and quantity of the fabrics made from it,

and the amount of stores, of various kinds, paid into the royal magazines.

Another exhibited the register of births and deaths, the marriages, the

number of those qualified to bear arms, and the like details in reference

to the population of the kingdom. These returns were annually

forwarded to the capital, where they were submitted to the inspection of

officers acquainted with the art of deciphering these mystic records.

The government was thus provided with a valuable mass of statistical

information, and the skeins of many-colored threads, collected and

carefully preserved, constituted what might be called the national

archives.5

But, although the quipus sufficed for all the purposes of arithmetical

computation demanded by the Peruvians, they were incompetent to

represent the manifold ideas and images which are expressed by writing,

Even here, however, the invention was not without its use. For,

independently of the direct representation of simple objects, and even of

abstract ideas, to a very limited extent, as above noticed, it afforded great

help to the memory by way of association. The peculiar knot or color,

in this way, suggested what it could not venture to represent; in the same

manner-to borrow the homely illustration of an old writer--as the number

of the Commandment calls to mind the Commandment itself. The

quipus, thus used, might be regarded as the Peruvian system of

mnemonics.

Annalists were appointed in each of the principal communities, whose

business it was to record the most important events which occurred in

them. Other functionaries of a higher character, usually the amautas,

were intrusted with the history of the empire, and were selected to

chronicle the great deeds of the reigning Inca, or of his ancestors.6 The

narrative, thus concocted, could be communicated only by oral tradition;

but the quipus served the chronicler to arrange the incidents with

method, and to refresh his memory. The story, once treasured up in the

mind, was indelibly impressed there by frequent repetition. It was

repeated by the amauta to his pupils, and in this way history, conveyed

partly by oral tradition, and partly by arbitrary signs, was handed down

from generation to generation, with sufficient discrepancy of details, but

with a general conformity of outline to the truth.

The Peruvian quipus were, doubtless, a wretched substitute for that

beautiful contrivance, the alphabet, which, employing a few simple

characters as the representatives of sounds, instead of ideas, is able to

convey the most delicate shades of thought that ever passed through the

mind of man. The Peruvian invention, indeed, was far below that of the

hieroglyphics, even below the rude picture-writing of the Aztecs; for the

latter art, however incompetent to convey abstract ideas, could depict

sensible objects with tolerable accuracy. It is evidence of the total

ignorance in which the two nations remained of each other, that the

Peruvians should have borrowed nothing of the hieroglyphical system of

the Mexicans, and this, notwithstanding that the existence of the maguey

plant agave, in South America might have furnished them with the very

material used by the Aztecs for the construction of their maps.7

It is impossible to contemplate without interest the struggles made by

different nations, as they emerge from barbarism, to supply themselves

with some visible symbols of thought,--that mysterious agency by which

the mind of the individual may be put in communication with the minds

of a whole community. The want of such a symbol is itself the greatest

impediment to the progress of civilization. For what is it but to

imprison the thought, which has the elements of immortality, within the

bosom of its author, or of the small circle who come in contact with him,

instead of sending it abroad to give light to thousands, and to generations

yet unborn! Not only is such a symbol an essential element of

civilization, but it may be assumed as the very criterion of civilization;

for the intellectual advancement of a people will keep pace pretty nearly

with its facilities for intellectual communication.

Yet we must be careful not to underrate the real value of the Peruvian

system; nor to suppose that the quipus were as awkward an instrument, in

the hand of a practised native, as they would be in ours. We know the

effect of habit in all mechanical operations, and the Spaniards bear

constant testimony to the adroitness and accuracy of the Peruvians in

this. Their skill is not more surprising than the facility with which habit

enables us to master the contents of a printed page, comprehending

thousands of separate characters, by a single glance, as it were, though

each character must require a distinct recognition by the eye, and that,

too, without breaking the chain of thought in the reader's mind. We

must not hold the invention of the quipus too lightly, when we reflect

that they supplied the means of calculation demanded for the affairs of a

great nation, and that, however insufficient, they afforded no little help to

what aspired to the credit of literary composition.

The office of recording the national annals was not wholly confined to

the amautas. It was assumed in part by the haravecs, or poets, who

selected the most brilliant incidents for their songs or ballads, which

were chanted at the royal festivals and at the table of the Inca.8 In this

manner, a body of traditional minstrelsy grew up, like the British and

Spanish ballad poetry, by means of which the name of many a rude

chieftain, that might have perished for want of a chronicler, has been

borne down the tide of rustic melody to later generations.

Yet history may be thought not to gain much by this alliance with poetry;

for the domain of the poet extends over an ideal realm peopled with the

shadowy forms of fancy, that bear little resemblance to the rude realities

of life. The Peruvian annals may be deemed to show somewhat of the

effects of this union, since there is a tinge of the marvellous spread over

them down to the very latest period, which, like a mist before the reader's

eye, makes it difficult to distinguish between fact and fiction.

The poet found a convenient instrument for his purposes in the beautiful

Quichua dialect. We have already seen the extraordinary measures

taken by the Incas for propagating their language throughout their

empire. Thus naturalized in the remotest provinces, it became enriched

by a variety of exotic words and idioms, which, under the influence of

the Court and of poetic culture, if I may so express myself, was gradually

blended, like some finished mosaic made up of coarse and disjointed

materials, into one harmonious whole. The Quichua became the most

comprehensive and various, as well as the most elegant, of the South

American dialects.9

Besides the compositions already noticed, the Peruvians, it is said,

showed some talent for theatrical exhibitions; not those barren

pantomimes which, addressed simply to the eye, have formed the

amusement of more than one rude nation. The Peruvian pieces aspired

to the rank of dramatic compositions, sustained by character and

dialogue, founded sometimes on themes of tragic interest, and at others

on such as, from their light and social character, belong to comedy.10

Of the execution of these pieces we have now no means of judging. It

was probably rude enough, as befitted an unformed people. But,

whatever may have been the execution, the mere conception of such an

amusement is a proof of refinement that honorably distinguishes the

Peruvian from the other American races, whose pastime was war, or the

ferocious sports that reflect the image of it.

The intellectual character of the Peruvians, indeed, seems to have been

marked rather by a tendency to refinement than by those hardier qualities

which insure success in the severer walks of science. In these they were

behind several of the semi-civilized nations of the New World. They

had some acquaintance with geography, so far as related to their own

empire, which was indeed extensive; and they constructed maps with

lines raised on them to denote the boundaries and localities, on a similar

principle with those formerly used by the blind. In astronomy, they

appear to have made but moderate proficiency. They divided the year

into twelve lunar months, each of which, having its own name, was

distinguished by its appropriate festival.11 They had, also, weeks; but of

what length, whether of seven, nine, or ten days, is uncertain. As their

lunar year would necessarily fall short of the true time, they rectified

their calendar by solar observations made by means of a number of

cylindrical columns raised on the high lands round Cuzco, which served

them for taking azimuths; and, by measuring their shadows, they

ascertained the exact times of the solstices. The period of the equinoxes

they determined by the help of a solitary pillar, or gnomon, placed in the

centre of a circle, which was described in the area of the great temple,

and traversed by a diameter that was drawn from east to west. When the

shadows were scarcely visible under the noontide rays of the sun, they

said that "the god sat with all his light upon the column." 12 Quito

which lay immediately under the equator, where the vertical rays of the

sun threw no shadow at noon, was held in especial veneration as the

favored abode of the great deity. The period of the equinoxes was

celebrated by public rejoicings. The pillar was crowned by the golden

chair of the Sun, and, both then and at the solstices, the columns were

hung with garlands, and offerings of flowers and fruits were made, while

high festival was kept throughout the empire. By these periods the

Peruvians regulated their religious rites and ceremonial, and prescribed

the nature of their agricultural labors. The year itself took its departure

from the date of the winter solstice.13

This meagre account embraces nearly all that has come down to us of

Peruvian astronomy. It may seem strange that a nation, which had

proceeded thus far in its observations, should have gone no farther; and

that, notwithstanding its general advance in civilization, it should in this

science have fallen so far short, not only of the Mexicans, but of the

Muyscas, inhabiting the same elevated regions of the great southern

plateau with themselves. These latter regulated their calendar on the

same general plan of cycles and periodical series as the Aztecs,

approaching yet nearer to the system pursued by the people of Asia.14

It might have been expected that the Incas, the boasted children of the

Sun, would have made a particular study of the phenomena of the

heavens, and have constructed a calendar on principles as scientific as

that of their semi-civilized neighbors. One historian, indeed, assures us

that they threw their years into cycles of ten, a hundred, and a thousand

years, and that by these cycles they regulated their chronology.15 But

this assertion--not improbable in itself--rests on a writer but little gifted

with the spirit of criticism, and is counter-balanced by the silence of

every higher and earlier authority, as well as by the absence of any

monument, like those found among other American nations, to attest the

existence of such a calendar. The inferiority of the Peruvians may be,

perhaps, in part explained by the fact of their priesthood being drawn

exclusively from the body of the Incas, a privileged order of nobility,

who had no need, by the assumption of superior learning, to fence

themselves round from the approaches of the vulgar. The little true

science possessed by the Aztec priest supplied him with a key to unlock

the mysteries of the heavens, and the false system of astrology which he

built upon it gave him credit as a being who had something of divinity in

his own nature. But the Inca noble was divine by birth. The illusory

study of astrology, so captivating to the unenlightened mind, engaged no

share of his attention. The only persons in Peru, who claimed the power

of reading the mysterious future, were the diviners, men who, combining

with their pretensions some skill in the healing art, resembled the

conjurors found among many of the Indian tribes. But the office was

held in little repute, except among the lower classes, and was abandoned

to those whose age and infirmity disqualified them for the real business

of life.16

The Peruvians had knowledge of one or two constellations, and watched

the motions of the planet Venus, to which, as we have seen, they

dedicated altars. But their ignorance of the first principles of

astronomical science is shown by their ideas of eclipses, which, they

supposed, denoted some great derangement of the planet; and when the

moon labored under one of these mysterious infirmities, they sounded

their instruments, and filled the air with shouts and lamentations, to rouse

her from her lethargy. Such puerile conceits as these form a striking

contrast with the real knowledge of the Mexicans, as displayed in their

hieroglyphical maps, in which the true cause of this phenomenon is

plainly depicted.17

But, if less successful in exploring the heavens, the Incas must be

admitted to have surpassed every other American race in their dominion

over the earth. Husbandry was pursued by them on principles that may

be truly called scientific. It was the basis of their political institutions.

Having no foreign commerce, it was agriculture that furnished them with

the means of their internal exchanges, their subsistence, and their

revenues. We have seen their remarkable provisions for distributing the

land in equal shares among the people, while they required every man,

except the privileged orders, to assist in its cultivation. The Inca himself

did not disdain to set the example. On one of the great annual festivals,

he proceeded to the environs of Cuzco, attended by his Court, and, in the

presence of all the people, turned up the earth with a golden plough,--or

an instrument that served as such,--thus consecrating the occupation of

the husbandman as one worthy to be followed by the Children of the

Sun.18

The patronage of the government did not stop with this cheap display of

royal condescension, but was shown in the most efficient measures for

facilitating the labors of the husbandman. Much of the country along the

sea-coast suffered from want of water, as little or no rain fell there, and

the few streams, in their short and hurried course from the mountains,

exerted only a very limited influence on the wide extent of territory. The

soil, it is true, was, for the most part, sandy and sterile; but many places

were capable of being reclaimed, and, indeed, needed only to be

properly irrigated to be susceptible of extraordinary production. To

these spots water was conveyed by means of canals and subterraneous

aqueducts, executed on a noble scale. They consisted of large slabs of

freestone nicely fitted together without cement, and discharged a volume

of water sufficient, by means of latent ducts or sluices, to moisten the

lands in the lower level, through which they passed. Some of these

aqueducts were of great length. One that traversed the district of

Condesuyu measured between four and five hundred miles. They were

brought from some elevated lake or natural reservoir in the heart of the

mountains, and were fed at intervals by other basins which lay in their

route along the slopes of the sierra. In this descent, a passage was

sometimes to be opened through rocks,--and this without the aid of iron

tools; impracticable mountains were to be turned; rivers and marshes to

be crossed; in short, the same obstacles were to be encountered as in the

construction of their mighty roads. But the Peruvians seemed to take

pleasure in wrestling with the difficulties of nature. Near Caxamarca, a

tunnel is still visible, which they excavated in the mountains, to give an

outlet to the waters of a lake, when these rose to a height in the rainy

season that threatened the country with inundation.19

Most of these beneficent works of the Incas were suffered to go to decay

by their Spanish conquerors. In some spots, the waters are still left to

flow in their silent, subterraneous channels, whose windings and whose

sources have been alike unexplored. Others, though partially

dilapidated, and closed up with rubbish and the rank vegetation of the

soil, still betray their course by occasional patches of fertility. Such are

the remains in the valley of Nasca, a fruitful spot that lies between long

tracts of desert; where the ancient water-courses of the Incas, measuring

four or five feet in depth by three in width, and formed of large blocks of

uncemented masonry, are conducted from an unknown distance.

The greatest care was taken that every occupant of the land through

which these streams passed should enjoy the benefit of them. The

quantity of water alloted to each was prescribed by law; and royal

overseers superintended the distribution, and saw that it was faithfully

applied to the irrigation of the ground.20

The Peruvians showed a similar spirit of enterprise in their schemes for

introducing cultivation into the mountainous parts of their domain.

Many of the hills, though covered with a strong soil, were too precipitous

to be tilled. These they cut into terraces, faced with rough stone,

diminishing in regular gradation towards the summit; so that, while the

lower strip, or anden, as it was called by the Spaniards, that belted round

the base of the mountain, might comprehend hundreds of acres, the

upper-most was only large enough to accommodate a few rows of Indian

corn.21 Some of the eminences presented such a mess of solid rock,

that, after being hewn into terraces, they were obliged to be covered deep

with earth, before they could serve the purpose of the husbandman. With

such patient toil did the Peruvians combat the formidable obstacles

presented by the face of their country! Without the use of tools or the

machinery familiar to the European, each individual could have done

little; but acting in large masses, and under a common direction, they

were enabled by indefatigable perseverance to achieve results, to have

attempted which might have filled even the European with dismay.22

In the same spirit of economical husbandry which redeemed the rocky

sierra from the curse of sterility, they dug below the arid soil of the

valleys, and sought for a stratum where some natural moisture might be

found. These excavations, called by the Spaniards hoyas, or "pits," were

made on a great scale, comprehending frequently more than an acre,

sunk to the depth of fifteen or twenty feet, and fenced round within by a

wall of adobes, or bricks baked in the sun. The bottom of the

excavation, well prepared by a rich manure of the sardines,--a small fish

obtained in vast quantities along the coast,--was planted with some kind

or grain or vegetable.23

The Peruvian farmers were well acquainted with the different kinds of

manures, and made large use of them; a circumstance rare in the rich

lands of the tropics, and probably not elsewhere practised by the rude

tribes of America. They made great use of guano, the valuable deposit

of sea-fowl, that has attracted so much attention, of late, from the

agriculturists both of Europe and of our own country, and the stimulating

and nutritious properties of which the Indians perfectly appreciated.

This was found in such immense quantities on many of the little islands

along the coast, as to have the appeaarnce of lofty hills, which, covered

with a white saline incrustation, led the Conquerors to give them the

name of the sierra nevada, or "snowy mountains."

The Incas took their usual precautions for securing the benefits of this

important article to the husbandman. They assigned the small islands on

the coast to the use of the respective districts which lay adjacent to them.

When the island was large, it was distributed among several districts, and

the boundaries for each were clearly defined. All encroachment on the

rights of another was severely punished. And they secured the

preservation of the fowl by penalties as stern as those by which the

Norman tyrants of England protected their own game. No one was

allowed to set foot on the island during the season for breeding, under

pain of death; and to kill the birds at any time was punished in the like

manner.24

With this advancement in agricultural science, the Peruvians might be

supposed to have had some knowledge of the plough, in such general use

among the primitive nations of the eastern continent. But they had

neither the iron ploughshare of the Old World, nor had they animals for

draught, which, indeed, were nowhere found in the New. The

instrument which they used was a strong, sharp-pointed stake, traversed

by a horizontal piece, ten or twelve inches from the point, on which the

ploughman might set his foot and force it into the ground. Six or eight

strong men were attached by ropes to the stake, and dragged it forcibly

along, --pulling together, and keeping time as they moved by chanting

their national songs, in which they were accompanied by the women who

followed in their-train, to break up the sods with their rakes. The mellow

soil offered slight resistance; and the laborer., by long practice, acquired

a dexterity which enabled him to turn up the ground to the requisite

depth with astonishing facility. This substitute for the plough was but a

clumsy contrivance; yet it is curious as the only specimen of the kind

among the American aborigines, and was perhaps not much inferior to

the wooden instrument introduced in its stead by the European

conquerors .25

It was frequently the policy of the Incas, after providing a deserted tract

with the means for irrigation, and thus fitting it for the labors of the

husbandman, to transplant there a colony of mitimaes, who brought it

under cultivation by raising the crops best suited to the soil. While the

peculiar character and capacity of the lands were thus consulted, a means

of exchange of the different products was afforded to the neighboring

provinces, which, from the formation of the country, varied much more

than usual within the same limits. To facilitate these agricultural

exchanges, fairs were instituted, which took place three times a month in

some of the most populous places, where, as money was unknown, a

rude kind of commerce was kept up by the barter of their respective

products. These fairs afforded so many holidays for the relaxation of the

industrious laborer.26

Such were the expedients adopted by the Incas for the improvement of

their territory; and, although imperfect, they must be allowed to show an

acquaintance with the principles of agricultural science, that gives them

some claim to the rank of a civilized people. Under their patient and

discriminating culture, every inch of good soil was tasked to its greatest

power of production; while the most-unpromising spots were compelled

to contribute something to the subsistence of the people. Everywhere the

land teemed with evidence of agricultural wealth, from the smiling

valleys along the coast to the terraced steeps of the sierra, which, rising

into pyramids of verdure, glowed with all the splendors of tropical

vegetation.

The formation of the country was particularly favorable, as already

remarked, to an infinite variety of products, not so much from its extent

as from its various elevations, which, more remarkable, even, than those

in Mexico, comprehend every degree of latitude from the equator to the

polar regions. Yet, though the temperature changes in this region with

the degree of elevation, it remains nearly the same in the same spots

throughout the year; and the inhabitant feels none of those grateful

vicissitudes of season which belong to the temperate latitudes of the

globe. Thus, while the summer lies in full power on the burning regions

of the palm and the cocoa-tree that fringe the borders of the ocean, the

broad surface of the table-land blooms with the freshness of perpetual

spring, and the higher summits of the Cordilleras are white with

everlasting winter.

The Peruvians turned this fixed variety of climate, if I may so say, to the

best account by cultivating the productions appropriate to each; and they

particularly directed their attention to those which afforded the most

nutriment to man. Thus, in the lower level were to be found the

cassavatree and the banana, that bountiful plant, which seems to have

relieved man from the primeval curse--if it were not rather a blessing--of

toiling for his sustenance.27 As the banana faded from the landscape, a

good substitute was found in the maize, the great agricultural staple of

both the northern and southern divisions of the American continent; and

which, after its exportation to the Old World, spread so rapidly there, as

to suggest the idea of its being indigenous to it.28 The Peruvians were

well acquainted with the different modes of preparing this useful

vegetable, though it seems they did not use it for bread, except at

festivals; and they extracted a sort of honey from the stalk, and made an

intoxicating liquor from the fermented grain, to which, like the Aztecs,

they were immoderately addicted.29

The temperate climate of the table-land furnished them with the maguey,

agave Americana, many of the extraordinary qualities of which they

comprehended, though not its most important one of affording a material

for paper. Tobacco, too, was among the products of this elevated region.

Yet the Peruvians differed from every other Indian nation to whom it was

known, by using it only for medicinal purposes, in the form of snuff.30

They may have found a substitute for its narcotic qualities in the coco

(Erythroxylum Peruvianurn), or cuca, as called by the natives. This is a

shrub which grows to the height of a man. The leaves when gathered are

dried in the sun, and, being mixed with a little lime, form a preparation

for chewing, much like the betel-leaf of the East.31 With a small supply

of this cuca in his pouch, and a handful of roasted maize, the Peruvian

Indian of our time performs his wearisome journeys, day ,after day,

without fatigue, or, at least, without complaint. Even food the most

invigorating is less grateful to him than his loved narcotic. Under the

Incas, it is said to have been exclusively reserved for the noble orders. If

so, the people gained one luxury by the Conquest; and, after that period,

it was so extensively used by them, that this article constituted a most

important item of the colonial revenue of Spain.32 Yet, with the

soothing charms of an opiate, this weed so much vaunted by the natives,

when used to excess, is said to be attended with all the mischievous

effects of habitual intoxication.33

Higher up on the slopes of the Cordilleras, beyond the limits of the maize

and of the quinoa,--a grain bearing some resemblance to rice, and largely

cultivated by the Indians,--was to be found the potato, the introduction of

which into Europe has made an era in the history of agriculture.

Whether indigenous to Peru, or imported from the neighboring country

of Chili, it formed the great staple of the more elevated plains, under the

Incas, and its culture was continued to a height in the equatorial regions

which reached many thousand feet above the limits of perpetual snow in

the temperate latitudes of Europe.34 Wild specimens of the vegetable

might be seen still higher, springing up spontaneously amidst the stunted

shrubs that clothed the lofty sides of the Cordilleras till these gradually

subsided into the mosses and the short yellow grass: pajonal, which, like

a golden carpet, was unrolled around the base of the mighty cones, that

rose far into the regions of eternal silence, covered with the snows of

centuries.35

Book 1

Chapter 5

Peruvian Sheep--Great Hunts--Manufactures--Mechanical Skill--

Architecture--Concluding Reflections

A Nation which had made such progress in agriculture might be

reasonably expected to have made, also, some proficiency in the

mechanical arts--especially when, as in the case of the Peruvians, their

agricultural economy demanded in itself no inconsiderable degree of

mechanical skill. Among most nations, progress in manufactures has

been found to have an intimate connection with the progress of

husbandry. Both arts are directed to the same great object of supplying

the necessaries, the comforts, or, in a more refined condition of society,

the luxuries of life; and when the one is brought to a perfection that

infers a certain advance in civilization, the other must naturally find a

corresponding development under the increasing demands and capacities

of such a state. The subjects of the Incas, in their patient and tranquil

devotion to the more humble occupations of industry which bound them

to their native soil, bore greater resemblance to the Oriental nations, as

the Hindoos and Chinese, than they bore to the members of the great

Anglo-Saxon family whose hardy temper has driven them to seek their

fortunes on the stormy ocean, and to open a commerce with the most

distant regions of the globe. The Peruvians, though lining a long extent

of sea-coast, had no foreign commerce.

They had peculiar advantages for domestic manufacture in a material

incomparably superior to anything possessed by the other races of the

Western continent. They found a good substitute for linen in a fabric

which, like the Aztecs, they knew how to weave from the tough thread of

the maguey. Cotton grew luxuriantly on the low, sultry level of the

coast, and furnished them with a clothing suitable to the milder latitudes

of the country. But from the llama and the kindred species of Peruvian

sheep they obtained a fleece adapted to the colder climate of the

tableland, "more estimable," to quote the language of a well-informed

writer, "than the down of the Canadian beaver, the fleece of the brebis

des Calmoucks, or of the Syrian goat." 1

Of the four varieties of the Peruvian sheep, the llama, the one most

familiarly known, is the least valuable on account of its wool. It is

chiefly employed as a beast of burden, for which, although it is

somewhat larger than any of the other varieties, its diminutive size and

strength would seem to disqualify it. It carries a load of little more than

a hundred pounds, and cannot travel above three or four leagues in a day.

But all this is compensated by the little care and cost required for its

management and its maintenance. It picks up an easy subsistence from

the moss and stunted herbage that grow scantily along the withered sides

and the steeps of the Cordilleras. The structure of its stomach, like that

of the camel, is such as to enable it to dispense with any supply of water

for weeks, nay, months together. Its spongy hoof, armed with a claw or

pointed talon to enable it to take secure hold on the ice, never requires to

be shod; and the load laid upon its back rests securely in its bed of wool,

without the aid of girth or saddle. The llamas move in troops of five

hundred or even a thousand, and thus, though each individual carries but

little, the aggregate is considerable. The whole caravan travels on at its

regular pace, passing the night in the open air without suffering from the

coldest temperature, and marching in perfect order, and in obedience to

the voice of the driver. It is only when overloaded that the spirited little

animal refuses to stir, and neither blows nor caresses can induce him to

rise from the ground. He is as sturdy in asserting his rights on this

occasion, as he is usually docile and unresisting.2

The employment of domestic animals distinguished the Peruvians from

the other races of the New World. This economy of human labor by the

substitution of the brute is an important element of civilization, interior

only to what is gained by the substitution of machinery for both. Yet the

ancient Peruvians seem to have made much less account of it than their

Spanish conquerors, and to have valued the llama, in common with the

other animals of that genus, chiefly for its fleece. Immense herds of

these "large cattle," as they were called, and of the "smaller cattle," 3 or

alpacas, were held by the government, as already noticed, and placed

under the direction of shepherds, who conducted them from one quarter

of the country to another, according to the changes of the season. These

migrations were regulated with all the precision with which the code of

the mesta determined the migrations of the vast merino flocks in Spain;

and the Conquerors, when they landed in Peru, were amazed at finding a

race of animals so similar to their own in properties and habits, and

under the control of a system of legislation which might seem to have

been imported from their native land.4

But the richest store of wool was obtained, not from these domesticated

animals, but from the two other species, the huanacos and the vicunas,

which roamed in native freedom over the frozen ranges of the

Cordilleras; where not unfrequently they might be seen scaling the snow-

covered peaks which no living thing inhabits save the condor, the huge

bird of the Andes, whose broad pinions bear him up in the atmosphere to

the height of more than twenty thousand feet above the level of the sea.5

In these rugged pastures, "the flock without a fold" finds sufficient

sustenance in the ychu, a species of grass which is found scattered all

along the great ridge of the Cordilleras, from the equator to the southern

limits of Patagonia. And as these limits define the territory traversed by

the Peruvian sheep, which rarely, if ever, venture north of the line, it

seems not improbable that this mysterious little plant is so important to

their existence, that the absence of it is the principal reason why they

have not penetrated to the northern latitudes of Quito and New

Granada.6

But, although thus roaming without a master over the boundless wastes

of the Cordilleras, the Peruvian peasant was never allowed to hunt these

wild animals, which were protected by laws as severe as were the sleek

herds that grazed on the more cultivated slopes of the plateau. The wild

game of the forest and the mountain was as much the property of the

government, as if it had been inclosed within a park, or penned within a

fold.7 It was only on stated occasions, at the great hunts, which took

place once a year, under the personal superintendence of the Inca or his

principal officers, that the game was allowed to be taken. These hunts.

were not repeated in the same quarter of the country oftener than once.

in four years, that time might be allowed for the waste occasioned by

them to be replenished. At the appointed time, all those living in the

district and its neighborhood, to the number, it might be, of fifty or sixty

thousand men,8 were distributed round, so as to form a cordon of

immense extent, that should embrace the whole country which was to be

hunted over. The men were armed with long poles and spears, with

which they beat up game of every description lurking in the woods, the

valleys, and the mountains, killing the beasts of prey without mercy, and

driving the others, consisting chiefly of the deer of the country, and the

huanacos and vicunas, towards the centre of the wide-extended circle;

until, as this gradually contracted, the timid inhabitants of the forest were

concentrated on some spacious plain, where the eye of the hunter might

range freely over his victims, who found no place for shelter or escape.

The male deer and some of the coarser kind of the Peruvian sheep were

slaughtered; their skins were reserved for the various useful

manufactures to which they are ordinarily applied, and their flesh, cut

into thin slices, was distributed among the people, who converted it into

charqui, the dried meat of the country, which constituted then the sole, as

it has since the principal, animal food of the lower classes of Peru.9

But nearly the whole of the sheep, amounting usually to thirty or forty

thousand, or even a larger number, after being carefully sheared, were

suffered to escape and regain their solitary haunts among the mountains.

The wool thus collected was deposited in the royal magazines, whence,

in due time, it was dealt out to the people. The coarser quality was

worked up into garments for their own use, and the finer for the Inca; for

none but an Inca noble could wear the fine fabric of the vicuna.10

The Peruvians showed great skill in the manufacture of different articles

for the royal household from this delicate material, which, under the

name of vigonia wool, is now familiar to the looms of Europe. It was

wrought into shawls, robes, and other articles of dress for the monarch,

and into carpets, coverlets, and hangings for the imperial palaces and the

temples. The cloth was finished on both sides alike; 11 the delicacy of

the texture was such as to give it the lustre of silk; and the brilliancy of

the dyes excited the admiration and the envy of the European artisan.12

The Peruvians produced also an article of great strength and durability

by mixing the hair of animals with wool; and they were expert in the

beautiful feather-work, which they held of less account than the

Mexicans from the superior quality of the materials for other fabrics,

which they had at their command.13

The natives showed a skill in other mechanical arts similar to that

displayed by their manufactures of cloth. Every man in Peru was

expected to be acquainted with the various handicrafts essential to

domestic comfort. No long apprenticeship was required for this, where

the wants were so few as among the simple peasantry of the Incas. But,

if this were all, it would imply but a very moderate advancement in the

arts. There were certain individuals, however, carefully trained to those

occupations which minister to the demands of the more opulent classes

of society. These occupations, like every other calling and office in

Peru, always descended from father to son.14 The division of castes, in

this particular, was as precise as that which existed in Egypt or

Hindostan. If this arrangement be unfavorable to originality, or to the

development of the peculiar talent of the individual, it at least conduces

to an easy and finished execution by familiarizing the artist with the

practice of his art from childhood.15

The royal magazines and the huacas or tombs of the Incas have been

found to contain many specimens of curious and elaborate workmanship.

Among these are vases of gold and silver, bracelets, collars, and other

ornaments for the person; utensils of every description, some of fine

clay, and many more of copper; mirrors of a hard, polished stone, or

burnished silver, with a great variety of other articles made frequently on

a whimsical pattern, evincing quite as much ingenuity as taste or

inventive talent.16 The character of the Peruvian mind led to imitation,

in fact, rather than invention, to delicacy and minuteness of finish, rather

than to boldness or beauty of design.

That they should have accomplished these difficult works with such tools

as they possessed, is truly wonderful. It was comparativeIy easy to cast

and even sculpture metallic substances, both of which they did with

consummate skill. But that they should have shown the like facility in

cutting the hardest substances, as emeralds and other precious stones, is

not easy to explain. Emeralds they obtained in considerable quantity

from the barren district of Atacames, and this inflexible material seems

to have been almost as ductile in the hands of the Peruvian artist as if it

had been made of clay.17 Yet the natives were unacquainted with the

use of iron, though the soil was largely impregnated with it.18 The tools

used were of stone, or more frequently of copper. But the material on

which they relied for the execution of their most difficult tasks was

formed by combining a very small portion of tin with copper.19 This

composition gave a hardness to the metal which seems to have been little

inferior to that of steel. With the aid of it, not only did the Peruvian

artisan hew into shape porphyry and granite, but by his patient industry

accomplished works which the European would not have ventured to

undertake. Among the remains of the monuments of Cannar may be seen

movable rings in the muzzles of animals, all nicely sculptured of one

entire block of granite.20 It is worthy of remark, that the Egyptians, the

Mexicans, and the Peruvians, in their progress towards civilization,

should never have detected the use of iron, which lay around them in

abundance; and that they should each, without any knowledge of the

other, have found a substitute for it in such a curious composition of

metals as gave to their tools almost the temper of steel; 21 a secret that

has been lost--or, to speak more correctly, has never been discovered-by

the civilized European.

I have already spoken of the large quantity of gold and silver wrought

into various articles of elegance and utility for the Incas; though the

amount was inconsiderable, in comparison with what could have been

afforded by the mineral riches of the land, and with what has since been

obtained by the more sagacious and unscrupulous cupidity of the white

man. Gold was gathered by the Incas from the deposits of the streams.

They extracted the ore also in considerable quantities from the valley of

Curimayo, northeast of Caxamarca, as well as from other places; and the

silver mines of Porco, in particular, yielded them considerable returns.

Yet they did not attempt to penetrate into the bowels of the earth 'by

sinking a shaft, but simply excavated a cavern in the steep sides of the

mountain, or, at most, opened a horizonal vein of moderate depth. They

were equally deficient in the knowledge of the best means of detaching

the precious metal from the dross with which it was united, and had no

idea of the virtues of quicksilver,--a mineral not rare in Peru, as an

amalgam to effect this decomposition.22 Their method of smelting the

ore was by means of furnaces built in elevated and exposed situations,

where they might be fanned by the strong breezes of the mountains. The

subjects of the Incas, in short, with all their patient perseverance, did

little more than penetrate below the crust, the outer rind, as it were,

formed over those golden caverns which lie hidden in the dark depths of

the Andes. Yet what they gleaned from the surface was more than

adequate for all their demands. For they were not a commercial people,

and had no knowledge of money.23 In this they differed from the

ancient Mexicans, who had an established currency of a determinate

value. In one respect, however, they were superior to their American

rivals, since they made use of weights to determine the quantity of their

commodities, a thing wholly unknown to the Aztecs. This fact is

ascertained by the discovery of silver balances, adjusted with perfect

accuracy, in some of the tombs of the Incas.24

But the surest test of the civilization of a people--at least, as sure as any--

afforded by mechanical art is to be found in their architecture, which

presents so noble a field for the display of the grand and the beautiful,

and which, at the same time, is so intimately connected with the essential

comforts of life. There is no object on which the resources of the

wealthy are more freely lavished, or which calls out more effectually the

inventive talent of the artist. The painter and the sculptor may display

their individual genius in creations of surpassing excellence, but it is the

great monuments of architectural taste and magnificence that are

stamped in a peculiar manner by the genius of the nation. The Greek, the

Egyptian, the Saracen, the Gothic,--what a key do their respective styles

afford to the character and condition of the people! The monuments of

China, of Hindostan, and of Central America are all indicative of an

immature period, in which the imagination has not been disciplined by

study, and which, therefore, in its best results, betrays only the

illregulated aspirations after the beautiful, that belong to a semi-civilized

people.

The Peruvian architecture, bearing also the general characteristics of an

imperfect state of refinement, had still its peculiar character; and so

uniform was that character, that the edifices throughout the country seem

to have been all cast in the same mould.25 They were usually built of

porphyry or granite; not unfrequently of brick. This, which was formed

into blocks or squares of much larger dimensions than our brick, was

made of a tenacious earth mixed up with reeds or tough grass, and

acquired a degree of hardness with age that made it insensible alike to

the storms and the more trying sun of the tropics.26 The walls were of

great thickness, but low, seldom reaching to more than twelve or

fourteen feet in height. It is rare to meet with accounts of a building that

rose to a second story.27

The apartments had no communication with one another, but usually

opened into a court; and, as they were unprovided with windows, or

apertures that served for them, the only light from without must have

been admitted by the doorways. These were made with the sides

approaching each other towards the top, so that the lintel was

considerably narrower than the threshold, a peculiarity, also, in Egyptian

architecture. The roofs have for the most part disappeared with time.

Some few survive in the less ambitious edifices, of a singular bell-shape,

and made of a composition of earth and pebbles. They are supposed,

however, to have been generally formed of more perishable materials, of

wood or straw. It is certain that some of the most considerable stone-

buildings were thatched with straw. Many seem to have been

constructed without the aid of cement; and writers have contended that

the Peruvians were unacquainted with the use of mortar, or cement of

any kind.28 But a close, tenacious mould, mixed with lime, may be

discovered filling up the interstices of the granite in some buildings; and

in others, where the wellfitted blocks leave no room for this coarser

material, the eye of the antiquary has detected a fine bituminous glue, as

hard as the rock itself.29

The greatest simplicity is observed in the construction of the buildings.

which are usually free from outward ornament; though in some the huge

stones are shaped into a convex form with great regularity, and adjusted

with such nice precision to one another, that it would be impossible, but

for the flutings, to determine the line of junction. In others, the stone is

rough, as it was taken from the quarry, in the most irregular forms, with

the edges nicely wrought and fitted to each other. There is no

appearance of columns or of arches; though there is some contradiction

as to the latter point. But it is not to be doubted, that, although they may

have made some approach to this mode of construction by the greater or

less inclination of the walls, the Peruvian architects were wholly

unacquainted with the true principle of the circular arch reposing on its

key-stone.30

The architecture of the Incas is characterized, says an eminent traveller,

"by simplicity, symmetry, and solidity."31 It may seem unphilosophical

to condemn the peculiar fashion of a nation as indicating want of taste,

because its standard of taste differs from our own. Yet there is an

incongruity in the composition of the Peruvian buildings which argues a

very imperfect acquaintance with the first principles of architecture.

While they put together their bulky masses of porphyry and granite with

the nicest art, they were incapable of mortising their timbers, and, in their

ignorance of iron, knew no better way of holding the beams together that

tying them with thongs of maguey. In the same incongruous spirit, the

building that was thatched with straw, and unilluminated by a window,

was glowing with tapestries of gold and silver! These are the

inconsistencies of a rude people, among whom the arts are but partially

developed. It might not be difficult to find examples of like

inconsistency in the architecture and domestic arrangements of our

Anglo-Saxon, and, at a still later period of our Norman ancestors.

Yet the buildings of the Incas were accommodated to the character of the

climate, and were well fitted to resist those terrible convulsions which

belong to the land of volcanoes. The wisdom of their plan is attested by

the number which still survive, while the more modern constructions of

the Conquerors have been buried in ruins. The hand of the Conquerors,

indeed, has fallen heavily on these venerable monuments, and, in their

blind and superstitious search for hidden treasure, has caused infinitely

more ruin than time or the earthquake.32 Yet enough of these

monuments still remain to invite the researches of the antiquary. Those

only in the most conspicuous situations have been hitherto examined.

But, by the testimony of travellers, many more are to be found in the less

frequented parts of the country; and we may hope they will one day call

forth a kindred spirit of enterprise to that which has so successfully

explored the mysterious recesses of Central America and Yucatan.

I cannot close this analysis of the Peruvian institutions without a few

reflections on their general character and tendency, which, if they

involve some repetition of previous remarks, may, I trust, be excused,

from my desire to leave a correct and consistent impression on the

reader. In this survey, we cannot but be struck with the total

dissimilarity between these institutions and those of the Aztecs,--the

other great nation who led in the march of civilization on this western

continent, and whose empire in the northern portion of it was as

conspicuous as that of the Incas in the south. Both nations came on the

plateau, and commenced their career of conquest, at dates, it may be, not

far removed from each other.33 And it is worthy of notice, that, in

America, the elevated region along the crests of the great mountain

ranges should have been the chosen seat of civilization in both

hemispheres.

Very different was the policy pursued by the two races in their military

career. The Aztecs, animated by the most ferocious spirit, carried on a

war of extermination, signalizing their triumphs by the sacrifice of

hecatombs of captives; while the Incas, although they pursued the game

of conquest with equal pertinacity, preferred a milder policy, substituting

negotiation and intrigue for violence, and dealt with their antagonists so

that their future resources should not be crippled, and that they should

come as friends, not as foes, into the bosom of the empire.

Their policy toward the conquered forms a contrast no less striking to

that pursued by the Aztecs. The Mexican vassals were ground by

excessive imposts and military conscriptions. No regard was had to their

welfare, and the only limit to oppression was the power of endurance.

They were over-awed by fortresses and armed garrisons, and were made

to feel every hour that they were not part and parcel of the nation, but

held only in subjugation as a conquered people. The Incas, on the other

hand, admitted their new subjects at once to all the rights enjoyed by the

rest of the community; and, though they made them conform to the

established laws and usages of the empire, they watched over their

personal security and comfort with a sort of parental solicitude. The

motley population, thus bound together by common interest, was

animated by a common feeling of loyality, which gave greater strength

and stability to the empire, as it became more and more widely extended;

while the various tribes who successively came under the Mexican

sceptre, being held together only by the pressure of external force, were

ready to fall asunder the moment that that force was withdrawn. The

policy of the two nations displayed the principle of fear as contrasted

with the principle of love.

The characteristic features of their religious systems had as little

resemblance to each other. The whole Aztec pantheon partook more or

less of the sanguinary spirit of the terrible war-god who presided over it,

and their frivolous ceremonial almost always terminated with human

sacrifice and cannibal orgies. But the rites of the Peruvians were of a

more innocent cast, as they tended to a more spiritual worship. For the

worship of the Creator is most nearly approached by that of the heavenly

bodies, which, as they revolve in their bright orbits, seem to be the most

glorious symbols of his beneficence and power.

In the minuter mechanical arts, both showed considerable skill; but in the

construction of important public works, of roads, aqueducts, canals, and

in agriculture in all its details, the Peruvians were much superior.

Strange that they should have fallen so far below their rivals in their

efforts after a higher intellectual culture, in astronomical science, more

especially, and in the art of communicating thought by visible symbols.

When we consider the greater refinement of the Incas, their inferiority to

the Aztecs in these particulars can be explained only by the fact, that the

latter in all probability were indebted for their science to the race who

preceded them in the land,--that shadowy race whose origin and whose

end are alike veiled from the eye of the inquirer, but who possibly may

have sought a refuge from their ferocious invaders in those regions of

Central America the architectural remains of which now supply us with

the most pleasing monuments of Indian civilization. It is with this more

polished race, to whom the Peruvians seem to have borne some

resemblance in their mental and moral organization, that they should be

compared. Had the empire of the Incas been permitted to extend itself

with the rapid strides with which it was advancing at the period of the

Spanish conquest, the two races might have come into conflict, or,

perhaps, into alliance with one another.

The Mexicans and Peruvians, so different in the character of their

peculiar civilization, were, it seems probable, ignorant of each other's

existence; and it may appear singular, that, during the simultaneous

continuance of their empires, some of the seeds of science and of art,

which pass so imperceptibly from one people to another, should not have

found their way across the interval which separated the two nations.

They furnish an interesting example of the opposite directions which the

human mind may take in its struggle to emerge from darkness into the

light of civilization,

A closer resemblance--as I have more than once taken occasion to

notice--may be found between the Peruvian institutions and some of the

despotic governments of Eastern Asia; those governments where

despotism appears in its more mitigated form, and the whole people,

under the patriarchal sway of its sovereign, seem to be gathered together

like the members of one vast family. Such were the Chinese, for

example, whom the Peruvians resembled in their implicit obedience to

authority, their mild yet somewhat stubborn temper, their solicitude for

forms, their reverence for ancient usage, their skill in the minuter

manufactures, their imitative rather than inventive cast of mind, and their

invincible patience, which serves instead of a more adventurous spirit for

the execution of difficult undertakings.34

A still closer analogy may be found with the natives of Hindostan in their

division into castes, their worship of the heavenly bodies and the

elements of nature, and their acquaintance with the scientific principles

of husbandry. To the ancient Egyptians, also, they bore considerable

resemblance in the same particulars, as well as in those ideas of a future

existence which led them to attach so much importance to the permanent

preservation of the body.

But we shall look in vain in the history of the East for a parallel to the

absolute control exercised by the Incas over their subjects. In the East,

this was rounded on physical power,--on the external resources of the

government. The authority of the Inca might be compared with that of

the Pope in the day of his might, when Christendom trembled at the

thunders of the Vatican, and the successor of St. Peter set his foot on the

necks of princes. But the authority of the Pope was founded on opinion.

His temporal power was nothing. The empire of the Incas rested on

both. It was a theocracy more potent in its operation than that of the

Jews; for, though the sanction of the law might be as great among the

latter, the law was expounded by a human lawgiver, the servant and

representative of Divinity. But the Inca was both the lawgiver and the

law. He was not merely the representative of Divinity, or, like the Pope,

its vicegerent, but he was Divinity itself. The violation of his ordinance

was sacrilege. Never was there a scheme of government enforced by

such terrible sanctions, or which bore so oppressively on the subjects of

it. For it reached not only to the visible acts, but to the private conduct,

the words, the very thoughts, of its vassals.

It added not a little to the efficacy of the government, that, below the

sovereign, there was an order of hereditary nobles of the same divine

original with himself, who, placed far below himself, were still

immeasurably above the rest of the community, not merely by descent,

but, as it would seem, by their intellectual nature. These were the

exclusive depositaries of power, and, as their long hereditary training

made them familiar with their vocation, and secured them implicit

deference from the multitude, they became the prompt and well-practised

agents for carrying out the executive measures of the administration. All

that occurred throughout the wide extent of his empire---such was the

perfect system of communication--passed in review, as it were, before

the eyes of the monarch, and a thousand hands, armed with irresistible

authority, stood ready in every quarter to do his bidding. Was it not, as

we have said, the most oppressive, though the mildest, of despotisms?

It was the mildest, from the very circumstance, that the transcendent rank

of the sovereign, and the humble, nay, superstitious, devotion to his will

make it superfluous to assert this will be acts of violence or rigor. The

great mass of the people may have appeared to his eyes as but little

removed above the condition of the brute, formed to minister to his

pleasures. But, from their very helplessness, he regarded them with

feelings of commiseration, like those which a kind master might feel for

the poor animals committed to his charge, or--to do justice to the

beneficent character attributed to many of the Incas--that a parent might

feel for his young and impotent offspring. The laws were carefully

directed to their preservation and personal comfort. The people were not

allowed to be employed on works pernicious to their health, nor to pine--

a sad contrast to their subsequent destiny--under the imposition of tasks

too heavy for their powers. They were never made the victims of public

or private extortion; and a benevolent forecast watched carefully over

their necessities, and provided for their relief in seasons of infirmity, and

for their sustenance in health. The government of the Incas, however

arbitrary in form, was in its spirit truly patriarchal.

Yet in this there was nothing cheering to the dignity of human nature.

What the people had was conceded as a boon, not as a right. When a

nation was brought under the sceptre of the Incas, it resigned every

personal right, even the rights dearest to humanity. Under this

extraordinary polity, a people advanced in many of the social

refinements, well skilled in manufactures and agriculture, were

unacquainted, as we have seen, with money. They had nothing that

deserved to be called property. They could follow no craft, could

engage in no labor, no amusement, but such as was specially provided by

law. They could not change their residence or their dress without a

license from the government. They could not even exercise the freedom

which is conceded to the most abject in other countries, that of selecting

their own wives. The imperative spirit of despotism would not allow

them to be happy or miserable in any way but that established by law.

The power of free agency--the inestimable and inborn right of every

human being--was annihilated in Peru.

The astonishing mechanism of the Peruvian polity could have resulted

only from the combined authority of opinion and positive power in the

ruler to an extent unprecedented in the history of man. Yet that it should

have so successfully gone into operation, and so long endured, in

opposition to the taste, the prejudices, and the very principles of our

nature, is a strong proof of a generally wise and temperate administration

of the government.

The policy habitually pursued by the Incas for the prevention of evils

that might have disturbed the order of things is well exemplified in their

provisions against poverty and idleness. In these they rightly discerned

the two great causes of disaffection in a populous community. The

industry of the people was secured not only by their compulsory

occupations at home, but by their employment on those great public

works which covered every part of the country, and which still bear

testimony in their decay to their primitive grandeur. Yet it may well

astonish us to find, that the natural difficulty of these undertakings,

sufficiently great in itself, considering the imperfection of their tools and

machinery, was inconceivably enhanced by the politic contrivance of

government. The royal edifices of Quito, we are assured by the Spanish

conquerors, were constructed of huge masses of stone, many of which

were carried all the way along the mountain roads from Cuzco, a

distance of several hundred leagues.35 The great square of the capital

was filled to a considerable depth with mould brought with incredible

labor up the steep slopes of the Cordilleras from the distant shores of the

Pacific Ocean.36 Labor was regarded not only as a means, but as an

end, by the Peruvian law.

With their manifold provisions against poverty the reader has already

been made acquainted. They were so perfect, that, in their wide extent of

territory,--much of it smitten with the curse of barrenness,--no man,

however humble, suffered from the want of food and clothing. Famine,

so common a scourge in every other American nation, so common at that

period in every country of civilized Europe, was an evil unknown in the

dominions of the Incas.

The most enlightened of the Spaniards who first visited Peru, struck with

the general appearance of plenty and prosperity, and with the astonishing

order with which every thing throughout the country was regulated, are

loud in their expressions of admiration. No better government, in their

opinion, could have been devised for the people. Contented with their

condition, and free from vice, to borrow the language of an eminent

authority of that early day, the mild and docile character of the Peruvians

would have well fitted them to receive the teachings of Christianity, had

the love of conversion, instead of gold, animated the breasts of the

Conquerors.37 And a philosopher of a later time, warmed by the

contemplation of the picture--which his own fancy had colored---of

public prosperity and private happiness under the rule of the Incas,

pronounces "the moral man in Peru far superior to the European." 38

Yet such results are scarcely reconcilable with the theory of the

government I have attempted to analyze. Where there is no free agency,

there can be no morality. Where there is no temptation, there can be

little claim to virtue. Where the routine is rigorously prescribed by law,

the law, and not the man, must have the credit of the conduct. if that

government is the best, which is felt the least, which encroaches on the

natural liberty of the subject only so far as is essential to civil

subordination, then of all governments devised by man the Peruvian has

the least real claim to our admiration.

It is not easy to comprehend the genius and the full import of institutions

so opposite to those of our own free republic, where every man, however

humble his condition, may aspire to the highest honors of the state,--may

select his own career, and carve out his fortune in his own way; where

the light of knowledge, instead of being concentrated on a chosen few, is

shed abroad like the light of day, and suffered to fall equally on the poor

and the rich; where the collision of man with man wakens a generous

emulation that calls out latent talent and tasks the energies to the utmost;

where consciousness of independence gives a feeling of self-reliance

unknown to the timid subjects of a despotism; where, in short, the

government is made for man,--not as in Peru, where man seemed to be

made only for the government. The New World is the theatre in which

these two political systems, so opposite in their character, have been

carried into operation. The empire of the Incas has passed away and left

no trace. The other great experiment is still going on,--the experiment

which is to solve the problem, so long contested in the Old World, of the

capacity of man for self-government. Alas for humanity, if it should fail!

The testimony of the Spanish conquerors is not uniform in respect to the

favorable influence exerted by the Peruvian institutions on the character

of the people. Drinking and dancing are said to have been the pleassures

to which they were immoderately addicted. Like the slaves and serfs in

other lands, whose position excluded them from more serious and

ennobling occupations, they found a substitute in frivolous or sensual

indulgence. Lazy, luxurious, and licentious, are the epithets bestowed on

them by one of those who saw them at the Conquest, but whose pen was

not too friendly to the Indian.39 Yet the spirit of independence could

hardly be strong in a people who had no interest in the soil, no personal

rights to defend; and the facility with which they yielded to the Spanish

invader--after every allowance for their comparative inferiority--argues a

deplorable destitution of that patriotic feeling which holds life as little in

comparison with freedom.

But we must not judge too hardly of the unfortunate native, because he

quailed before the civilization of the European. We must not be

insensible to the really great results that were achieved by the

government of the Incas. We must not forget, that, under their rule, the

meanest of the people enjoyed a far greater degree of personal comfort,

at least, a greater exemption from physical suffering, than was possessed

by similar classes in other nations on the American continent,--greater,

probably, than was possessed by these classes in most of the countries of

feudal Europe. Under their sceptre, the higher orders of the state had

made advances in many of the arts that belong to a cultivated

community. The foundations of a regular government were laid, which,

in an age of rapine, secured to its subjects the inestimable blessings of

tranquillity and safety. By the well-sustained policy of the Incas, the

rude tribes of the forest were gradually drawn from their fastnesses, and

gathered within the folds of civilization; and of these materials was

constructed a flourishing and populous empire, such as was to be found

in no other quarter of the American continent. The defects of this

government were those of overrefinement in legislation,--the last defects

to have been looked for, certainly, in the American aborigines.

Note. I have not thought it necessary to swell this Introduction by an

inquiry into the origin of the Peruvian civilization, like that appended to

the history of the Mexican. The Peruvian history doubtless suggests

analogies with more than one nation in the East, some of which have

been briefly adverted to in the preceding pages; although these analogies

are adduced there not as evidence of a common origin, but as showing

the coincidences which might naturally spring up among different

nations under the same phase of civilization. Such coincidences are

neither so numerous nor so striking as those afforded by the Aztec

history. The correspondence presented by the astronomical science of

the Mexicans is alone of more importance than all the rest, Yet the light

of analogy, afforded by the institutions of the Incas, seems to point, as

far as it goes, towards the same direction; and as the investigation could

present but little substantially to confirm, and still less to confute, the

views taken in the former disquisition, I have not thought it best to

fatigue the reader with it.

Two of the prominent authorities on whom I have relied in this

Introductory portion of the work, are Juan de Sarmiento and the

Licentiate Ondegardo. Of the former I have been able to collect no

information beyond what is afforded by his own writings. In the title

prefixed to his manuscript, he is styled President of the Council of the

Indies, a post of high authority, which infers a weight of character in the

party, and means of information, that entitle his opinions on colonial

topics to great deference.

These means of information were much enlarged by Sarmiento's visit to

the colonies, during the administration of Gasca. Having conceived the

design of compiling a history of the ancient Peruvian institutions, he

visited Cuzco, as he tells us, in 1550, and there drew from the natives

themselves the materials for his narrative. His position gave him access

to the most authentic sources of knowledge, and from the lips of the Inca

nobles, the best instructed of the conquered race, he gathered the

traditions of their national history and institutions. The quipus formed,

as we have seen, an imperfect system of mnemonics, requiring constant

attention, and much inferior to the Mexican hieroglyphics. It was only

by diligent instruction that they were made available to historical

purposes; and this instruction was so far neglected after the Conquest,

that the ancient annals of the country would have perished with the

generation which was the sole depositary of them, had it not been for the

efforts of a few intelligent scholars, like Sarmiento, who saw the

importance, at this critical period, of cultivating an intercourse with the

natives, and drawing from them their hidden stores of information.

To give still further authenticity to his work, Sarmiento travelled over the

country, examined the principal objects of interest with his own eyes,

and thus verified the accounts of the natives as far as possible by

personal observation. The result of these labors was his work entitled,

"Relacion de la sucesion y govierno de las Yngas Senores naturales que

fueron de las Provincias del Peru y otras cosas tocantes a aquel Reyno,

para el Iltmo. Senor Dn Juan Sarmiento, Presidente del Consejo Rl de

Indias."

It is divided into chapters, and embraces about four hundred folio pages

in manuscript. The introductory portion of the work is occupied with the

traditionary tales of the origin and early period of the Incas; teeming, as

usual, in the antiquities of a barbarous people, with legendary fables of

the most wild and monstrous character. Yet these puerile conceptions

afford an inexhaustible mine for the labors of the antiquarian, who

endeavors to unravel the allegorical web which a cunning priesthood had

devised as symbolical of those mysteries of creation that it was beyond

their power to comprehend. But Sarmiento happily confines himself to

the mere statement of traditional fables, without the chimerical ambition

to explain them.

From this region of romance, Sarmiento passes to the institutions of the

Peruvians, describes their ancient polity, their religion, their progress in

the arts, especially agriculture; and presents, in short, an elaborate

picture of the civilization which they reached under the Inca dynasty.

This part of his work, resting, as it does, on the best authority, confirmed

in many instances by his own observation, is of unquestionable value,

and is written with an apparent respect for truth, that engages the

confidence of the reader. The concluding portion of the manuscript is

occupied with the civil history of the country. The reigns of the early

Incas, which lie beyond the sober province of history, he despatches

with commendable brevity. But on the three last reigns, and fortunately

of the greatest princes who occupied the Peruvian throne, he is more

diffuse. This was comparatively firm ground for the chronicler, for the

events were too recent to be obscured by the vulgar legends that gather

like moss round every incident of the older time. His account stops with

the Spanish invasion: for this story, Sarmiento felt, might be safely left to

his contemporaries who acted a part in it, but whose taste and education

had qualified them but indifferently for exploring the antiquities and

social institutions of the natives.

Sarmiento's work is composed in a simple, perspicuous style, without

that ambition of rhetorical display too common with his countrymen. He

writes with honest candor, and while he does ample justice to the merits

and capacity of the conquered races, he notices with indignation the

atrocities of the Spaniards and the demoralizing tendency of the

Conquest. It may be thought, indeed, that he forms too high an estimate

of the attainments of the nation under the Incas. And it is not

improbable, that, astonished by the vestiges it afforded of an original

civilization, he became enamoured of his subject, and thus exhibited it in

colors somewhat too glowing to the eye of the European. But this was

an amiable failing, not too largely shared by the stern Conquerors, who

subverted the institutions of the country, and saw little to admire in it,

save its gold. It must be further admitted, that Sarmiento has no design

to impose on his reader, and that he is careful to distinguish between

what he reports on hearsay, and what on personal experience. The

Father of History himself does not discriminate between these two things

more carefully.

Neither is the Spanish historian to be altogether vindicated from the

superstition which belongs to his time; and we often find him referring to

the immediate interposition of Satan those effects which might quite as

well be charged on the perverseness of man. But this was common to the

age, and to the wisest men in it; and it is too much to demand of a man to

be wiser than his generation. It is sufficient praise of Sarmiento, that, in

an age when superstition was too often allied with fanaticism, he seems

to have had no tincture of bigotry in his nature. His heart opens with

benevolent fulness to the unfortunate native; and his language, while it is

not kindled into the religious glow of the missionary, is warmed by a

generous ray of philanthropy that embraces the conquered, no less than

the conquerors, as his brethren.

Notwithstanding the great value of Sarmiento's work for the information

it affords of Peru under the Incas, it is but little known, has been rarely

consulted by historians, and still remains among the unpublished

manuscripts which lie, like uncoined bullion, in the secret chambers of

the Escurial.

The other authority to whom I have alluded, the Licentiate Polo de

Ondegardo, was a highly respectable jurist, whose name appears

frequently in the affairs of Peru. I find no account of the period when he

first came into the country. But he was there on the arrival of Gasca, and

resided at Lima under the usurpation of Gonzalo Pizarro. When the

artful Cepeda endeavored to secure the signatures of the inhabitants to

the instrument proclaiming the sovereignty of his chief, we find

Ondegardo taking the lead among those of his profession in resisting it.

On Gasca's arrival, he consented to take a commission in his army. At

the close of the rebellion he was made corregidor of La Plata, and

subsequently of Cuzco, in which honorable station he seems to have

remained several years. In the exercise of his magisterial functions, he

was brought into familiar intercourse with the natives, and had ample

opportunity for studying their laws and ancient customs. He conducted

himself with such prudence and moderation, that he seems to have won

the confidence not only of his countrymen but of the Indians; while the

administration was careful to profit by his large experience in devising

measures for the better government of the colony.

The Relaciones, so often cited in this History, were prepared at the

suggestion of the viceroys, the first being addressed to the Marques de

Canete, in 1561, and the second, ten years later, to the Conde de Nieva.

The two cover about as much ground as Sarmiento's manuscript; and the

second memorial, written so long after the first, may be thought to

intimate the advancing age of the author, in the greater carelessness and

diffuseness of the composition.

As these documents are in the nature of answers to the interrogatories

propounded by government- the range of topics might seem to be limited

within narrower bounds than the modern historian would desire. These

queries, indeed, had particular reference to the revenues, tributes,--the

financial administration, in short, of the Incas; and on these obscure

topics the communication of Ondegardo is particularly full. But the

enlightened curiosity of government embraced a far wider range; and the

answers necessarily implied an acquaintance with the domestic policy of

the Incas, with their laws, social habits, their religion, science, and arts,

in short, with all that make up the elements of civilization. Ondegardo's

memoirs, therefore, cover the whole ground of inquiry for the

philosophic historian.

In the management of these various subjects, Ondegardo displays both

acuteness and erudition. He never shrinks from the discussion, however

difficult; and while he gives his conclusions with an air of modesty, it is

evident that he feels conscious of having derived his information through

the most authentic channels. He rejects the fabulous with disdain;

decides on the probabilities of such facts as he relates, and candidly

exposes the deficiency of evidence. Far from displaying the simple

enthusiasm of the well-meaning but credulous missionary, he proceeds

with the cool and cautious step of a lawyer accustomed to the conflict of

testimony and the uncertainty of oral tradition. This circumspect manner

of proceeding, and the temperate character of his judgments, entitle

Ondegardo to much higher consideration as an authority than most of his

countrymen who have treated of Indian antiquities.

There runs through his writings a vein of humanity, shown particularly in

his tenderness to the unfortunate natives, to whose ancient civilization he

does entire, but not extravagant, justice; while, like Sarmiento, he

fearlessly denounces the excesses of his own countrymen, and admits the

dark reproach they had brought on the honor of the nation. But while

this censure forms the strongest ground for condemnation of the

Conquerors, since it comes from the lips of a Spaniard like themselves, it

proves, also, that Spain in this age of violence could send forth from her

bosom wise and good men who refused to make common cause with the

licentious rabble around them. Indeed, proof enough is given in these

very memorials of the unceasing efforts of the colonial government, from

the good viceroy Mendoza downwards, to secure protection and the

benefit of a mild legislation to the unfortunate natives. But the iron

Conquerors, and the colonist whose heart softened only to the touch of

gold, presented a formidable barrier to improvement.

Ondegardo's writings are honorably distinguished by freedom from that

superstition which is the debasing characteristic of the times; a

superstition shown in the easy credit given to the marvellous, and this

equally whether in heathen or in Christian story; for in the former the eye

of credulity could discern as readily the direct interposition of Satan, as

in the latter the hand of the Almighty. It is this ready belief in a spiritual

agency, whether for good or for evil, which forms one of the most

prominent features in the writings of the sixteenth century. Nothing

could be more repugnant to the true spirit of philosophical inquiry or

more irreconcilable with rational criticism. Far from betraying such

weakness, Ondegardo writes in a direct and business-like manner,

estimating things for what they are worth by the plain rule of common-

sense. He keeps the main object of his argument ever in view, without

allowing himself, like the garrulous chroniclers of the period, to be led

astray into a thousand rambling episodes that bewilder the reader and

lead to nothing.

Ondegardo's memoirs deal not only with the antiquities of the nation, but

with its actual condition, and with the best means for redressing the

manifold evils to which it was subjected under the stern rule of its

conquerors. His suggestions are replete with wisdom, and a merciful

policy, that would reconcile the interests of government with the

prosperity and happiness of its humblest vassal. Thus, while his

contemporaries gathered light from his suggestions as to the present

condition of affairs, the historian of later times is no less indebted to him

for information in respect to the past. His manuscript was freely

consulted by Herrera and the reader, as he peruses the pages of the

learned historian of the Indies, is unconsciously enjoying the benefit of

the researches of Ondegardo. His valuable Relaciones thus had their

uses for future generations, though they have never been admitted to the

honors of the press. The copy in my possession, like that of Sarmiento's

manuscript, for which I am indebted to that industrious bibliographer,

Mr. Rich formed part of the magnificent collection of Lord

Kingsborough,--a name ever to be held in honor by the scholar for his

indefatigable efforts to illustrate the antiquities of America.

Ondegardo's manuscripts, it should be remarked, do not bear his

signature. But they contain allusions to several actions of the writer's

life, which identify them, beyond any reasonable doubt, as his

production. In the archives of Simancas is a duplicate copy of the first

memorial, Relacion Primera, though, like the one in the Escurial, without

its author's name. Munoz assigns it to the pen of Gabriel de Rojas, a

distinguished cavalier of the Conquest. This is clearly an error; for the

author of the manuscript identifies himself with Ondegardo, by

declaring, in his reply to the fifth interrogatory, that he was the person

who discovered the mummies of the Incas in Cuzco; an act expressly

referred both by Acosta and Garcilasso, to the Licentiate Polo de

Ondegardo, when corregidor of that city.--Should the savans of Madrid

hereafter embrace among the publications of valuable manuscripts these

Relaciones, they should be careful not to be led into an error here, by the

authority of a critic like Munoz whose criticism is rarely at fault.

History of the Conquest of Peru

by William Hickling Prescott

Book 2

Discovery of Peru

Chapter 1

Ancient And Modern Science--Art Of Navigation--Maritime Discovery--

Spirit Of The Spaniards--Possessions In The New World-

Rumors Concerning Peru

Whatever difference of opinion may exist as to the comparative merits of

the ancients and the moderns in the arts, in poetry, eloquence, and all

that depends on imagination, there can be no doubt that in science the

moderns have eminently the advantage. It could not be otherwise. In the

early ages of the world, as in the early period of life, there was the

freshness of a morning existence, when the gloss of novelty was on every

thing that met the eye; when the senses, not blunted by familiarity, were

more keenly alive to the beautiful, and the mind, under the influence of a

healthy and natural taste, was not perverted by philosophical theory;

when the simple was necessarily connected with the beautiful, and the

epicurean intellect, sated by repetition, had not begun to seek for

stimulants in the fantastic and capricious. The realms of fancy were all

untravelled, and its fairest flowers had not been gathered, nor its beauties

despoiled, by the rude touch of those who affected to cultivate them.

The wing of genius was not bound to the earth by the cold and

conventional rules of criticism, but was permitted to take its flight far

and wide over the broad expanse of creation.

But with science it was otherwise. No genius could suffice for the

creation of facts,--hardly for their detection. They were to be gathered in

by painful industry; to be collected from careful observation and

experiment. Genius, indeed, might arrange and combine these facts into

new forms, and elicit from their combinations new and important

inferences; and in this process might almost rival in originality the

creations of the poet and the artist. But if the processes of science are

necessarily slow, they are sure. There is no retrograde movement in her

domain. Arts may fade, the Muse become dumb, a moral lethargy may

lock up the faculties of a nation, the nation itself may pass away and

leave only the memory of its existence but the stores of science it has

garnered up will endure for ever. As other nations come upon the stage,

and new forms of civilization arise. the monuments of art and of

imagination, productions of an older time, will lie as an obstacle in the

path of improvement. They cannot be built upon; they occupy the

ground which the new aspirant for immortality would cover. The whole

work is to be gone over again, and other forms of beauty--whether higher

or lower in the scale of merit, but unlike the past--must arise to take a

place by their side. But, in science, every stone that has been laid

remains as the foundation for another. The coming generation takes up

the work where the preceding left it. There is no retrograde movement.

The individual nation may recede, but science still advances. Every step

that has been gained makes the ascent easier for those who come after.

Every step carries the patient inquirer after truth higher and higher

towards heaven, and unfolds to him, as he rises, a wider horizon, and

new and more magnificent views of the universe.

Geography partook of the embarrassments which belonged to every other

department of science in the primitive ages of the world. The knowledge

of the earth could come only from an extended commerce; and

commerce is founded on artificial wants or an enlightened curiosity,

hardly compatible with the earlier condition of society. In the infancy of

nations, the different tribes, occupied with their domestic feuds, found

few occasions to wander beyond the mountain chain or broad stream that

formed the natural boundary of their domains. The Phoenicians, it is

true, are said to have sailed beyond the Pillars of Hercules, and to have

launched out on the great western ocean. But the adventures of these

ancient voyagers belong to the mythic legends of antiquity, and ascend

far beyond the domain of authentic record.

The Greeks, quick and adventurous. skilled in mechanical art, had many

of the qualities of successful navigators, and within the limits of their

little inland sea ranged fearlessly and freely. But the conquests of

Alexander did more to extend the limits of geographical science, and

opened an acquaintance with the remote countries of the East. Yet the

march of the conqueror is slow in comparison with the movements of the

unencumbered traveller. The Romans were still less enterprising than

the Greeks, were less commercial in their character. The contributions to

geographical knowledge grew with the slow acquisitions of empire. But

their system was centralizing in its tendency; and instead of taking an

outward direction and looking abroad for discovery, every part of the

vast imperial domain turned towards the capital at its head and central

point of attraction. The Roman conqueror pursued his path by land, not

by sea. But the water is the great highway between nations, the true

element for the discoverer. The Romans were not a maritime people. At

the close of their empire, geographical science could hardly be said to

extend farther than to an acquaintance with Europe,--and this not its

more northern division,--together with a portion of Asia and Africa;

while they had no other conception of a world beyond the western waters

than was to be gathered from the fortunate prediction of the poet.1

Then followed the Middle Ages; the dark ages, as they are called, though

in their darkness were matured those seeds of knowledge, which, in

fulness of time, were to spring up into new and more glorious forms of

civilization. The organization of society became more favorable to

geographical science. Instead of one overgrown, lethargic empire,

oppressing every thing by its colossal weight, Europe was broken up into

various independent communities, many of which, adopting liberal forms

of government, felt all the impulses natural to freemen; and the petty

republics on the Mediterranean and the Baltic sent forth their swarms of

seamen in a profitable commerce, that knit together the different

countries scattered along the great European waters.

But the improvements which took place in the art of navigation, the more

accurate measurement of time, and, above all, the discovery of the

polarity of the magnet, greatly advanced the cause of geographical

knowledge. Instead of creeping timidly along the coast, or limiting his

expeditions to the narrow basins of inland waters, the voyager might now

spread his sails boldly on the deep, secure of a guide to direct his bark

unerringly across the illimitable waste. The consciousness of this power

led thought to travel in a new direction; and the mariner began to look

with earnestness for another path to the Indian Spice-islands than that by

which the Eastern caravans had traversed the continent of Asia. The

nations on whom the spirit of enterprise, at this crisis, naturally

descended, were Spain and Portugal, placed, as they were, on the

outposts of the European continent, commanding the great theatre of

future discovery.

Both countries felt the responsibility of their new position. The crown of

Portugal was constant in its efforts, through the fifteenth century, to find

a passage round the southern point of Africa into the Indian Ocean;

though so timid was the navigation, that every fresh headland became a

formidable barrier; and it was not till the latter part of the century that

the adventurous Diaz passed quite round the Stormy Cape, as he termed

it, but which John the Second, with happier augury, called the Cape of

Good Hope. But, before Vasco de Gama had availed himself of this

discovery to spread his sails in the Indian seas, Spain entered on her

glorious career, and sent Columbus across the western waters.

The object of the great navigator was still the discovery of a route to

India, but by the west instead of the east. He had no expectation of

meeting with a continent in his way, and, after repeated voyages, he

remained in his original error, dying, as is well known, in the conviction

that it was the eastern shore of Asia which he had reached. It was the

same object which directed the nautical enterprises of those who

followed in the Admiral's track; and the discovery of a strait into the

Indian Ocean was the burden of every order from the government, and

the design of many an expedition to different points of the new continent,

which seemed to stretch its leviathan length along from one pole to the

other. The discovery of an Indian passage is the true key to the maritime

movements of the fifteenth and the first half of the sixteenth centuries. It

was the great leading idea that gave the character to the enterprise of the

age.

It is not easy at this time to comprehend the impulse given to Europe by

the discovery of America. It was not the gradual acquisition of some

border territory, a province or a kingdom that had been gained, but a

New World that was now thrown open to the Europeans. The races of

animals, the mineral treasures, the vegetable forms, and the varied

aspects of nature, man in the different phases of civilization, filled the

mind with entirely new sets of ideas, that changed the habitual current of

thought and stimulated it to indefinite conjecture. The eagerness to

explore the wonderful secrets of the new hemisphere became so active,

that the principal cities of Spain were, in a manner, depopulated, as

emigrants thronged one after another to take their chance upon the

deep.2 It was a world of romance that was thrown open; for, whatever

might be the luck of the adventurer, his reports on his return were tinged

with a coloring of romance that stimulated still higher the sensitive

fancies of his countrymen, and nourished the chimerical sentiments of an

age of chivalry. They listened with attentive ears to tales of Amazons

which seemed to realize the classic legends of antiquity, to stories of

Patagonian giants, to flaming pictures of an El Dorado, where the sands

sparkled with gems, and golden pebbles as large as birds' eggs were

dragged in nets out of the rivers.

Yet that the adventurers were no impostors, but dupes, too easy dupes of

their own credulous fancies, is shown by the extravagant character of

their enterprises; by expeditions in search of the magical Fountain of

Health, of the golden Temple of Doboyba, of the golden sepulchres of

Zenu; for gold was ever floating before their distempered vision, and the

name of Castilla del Oro, Golden Castile, the most unhealthy and

unprofitable region of the Isthmus, held out a bright promise to the

unfortunate settler, who too frequently, instead of gold, found there only

his grave.

In this realm of enchantment, all the accessories served to maintain the

illusion. The simple natives, with their defenceless bodies and rude

weapons, were no match for the European warrior armed to the teeth in

mail. The odds were as great as those found in any legend of chivalry,

where the lance of the good knight overturned hundreds at a touch. The

perils that lay in the discoverer's path, and the sufferings he had to

sustain, were scarcely inferior to those that beset the knight-errant.

Hunger and thirst and fatigue, the deadly effluvia of the morass with its

swarms of venomous insects, the cold of mountain snows, and the

scorching sun of the tropics, these were the lot of every cavalier who

came to seek his fortunes in the New World. It was the reality of

romance. The life of the Spanish adventurer was one chapter more--and

not the least remarkable --in the chronicles of knight-errantry.

The character of the warrior took somewhat of the exaggerated coloring

shed over his exploits. Proud and vainglorious, swelled with lofty

anticipations of his destiny, and an invincible confidence in his own

resources, no danger could appall and no toil could tire him. The greater

the danger, indeed, the higher the charm; for his soul revelled in

excitement, and the enterprise without peril wanted that spur of romance

which was necessary to rouse his energies into action. Yet in the motives

of action meaner influences were strangely mingled with the loftier, the

temporal with the spiritual. Gold was the incentive and the recompense,

and in the pursuit of it his inflexible nature rarely hesitated as to the

means. His courage was sullied with cruelty, the cruelty that flowed

equally--strange as it may seem--from his avarice and his religion;

religion as it was understood in that age,--the religion of the Crusader. It

was the convenient cloak for a multitude of sins, which covered them

even from himself. The Castilian, too proud for hypocrisy, committed

more cruelties in the name of religion than were ever practised by the

pagan idolater or the fanatical Moslem. The burning of the infidel was a

sacrifice acceptable to Heaven, and the conversion of those who survived

amply atoned for the foulest offences. It is a melancholy and mortifying

consideration, that the most uncompromising spirit of intolerance--the

spirit of the Inquisitor at home, and of the Crusader abroad-should have

emanated from a religion which preached peace upon earth and good-

will towards man!

What a contrast did these children of Southern Europe present to the

Anglo-Saxon races who scattered themselves along the great northern

division of the western hemisphere! For the principle of action with these

latter was not avarice, nor the more specious pretext of proselytism; but

independence---independence religious and political. To secure this,

they were content to earn a bare subsistence by a life of frugality and toil.

They asked nothing from the soil, but the reasonable returns of their own

labor. No golden visions threw a deceitful halo around their path and

beckoned them onwards through seas of blood to the subversion of an

unoffending dynasty. They were content with the slow but steady

progress of their social polity. They patiently endured the privations of

the wilderness, watering the tree of liberty with their tears and with the

sweat of their brow, till it took deep root in the land and sent up its

branches high towards the heavens; while the communities of the

neighboring continent, shooting up into the sudden splendors of a

tropical vegetation, exhibited, even in their prime, the sure symptoms of

decay.

It would seem to have been especially ordered by Providence that the

discovery of the two great divisions of the American hemisphere should

fall to the two races best fitted to conquer and colonize them. Thus the

northern section was consigned to the Anglo-Saxon race, whose orderly,

industrious habits found an ample field for development under its colder

skies and on its more rugged soil; while the southern portion, with its

rich tropical products and treasures of mineral wealth, held out the most

attractive bait to invite the enterprise of the Spaniard. How different

might have been the result, if the bark of Columbus had taken a more

northerly direction, as he at one time meditated, and landed its band of

adventurers on the shores of what is now Protestant America!

Under the pressure of that spirit of nautical enterprise which filled the

maritime communities of Europe in the sixteenth century, the whole

extent of the mighty continent, from Labrador to Terra del Fuego, was

explored in less than thirty years after its discovery; and in 1521, the

Portuguese Maghellan, sailing under the Spanish flag, solved the

problem of the strait, and found a westerly way to the long sought Spice-

islands of India,--greatly to the astonishment of the Portuguese, who,

sailing from the opposite direction, there met their rivals, face to face, at

the antipodes. But while the whole eastern coast of the American

continent had been explored, and the central portion of it colonized,--

even after the brilliant achievement of the Mexican conquest,---the veil

was not yet raised that hung over the golden shores of the Pacific.

Floating rumors had reached the Spaniards, from time to time, of

countries in the far west, teeming with the metal they so much coveted;

but the first distinct notice of Peru was about the year 1511, when Vasco

Nunez de Balboa, the discoverer of the Southern Sea, was weighing

some gold which he had collected from the natives. A young barbarian

chieftain, who was present, struck the scales with his fist, and, scattering

the glittering metal around the apartment, exclaimed,---"If this is what

you prize so much that you are willing to leave your distant homes, and

risk even life itself for it, I can tell you of a land where they eat and drink

out of golden vessels, and gold is as cheap as iron is with you." It was

not long after this startling intelligence that Balboa achieved the

formidable adventure of scaling the mountain rampart of the Isthmus

which divides the two mighty oceans from each other; when, armed with

sword and buckler, he rushed into the waters of the Pacific, and cried

out, in the true chivalrous vein, that "he claimed this unknown sea with

all that it contained for the king of Castile, and that he would make good

the claim against all, Christian or infidel, who dared to gainsay it!"3 All

the broad continent and sunny isles washed by the waters of the Southern

Ocean! Little did the bold cavalier comprehend the full import of his

magnificent vaunt.

On this spot he received more explicit tidings of the Peruvian empire,

heard proofs recounted of its civilization, and was shown drawings of the

llama, which, to the European eye, seemed a species of the Arabian

camel. But, although he steered his caravel for these golden realms, and

even pushed his discoveries some twenty leagues south of the Gulf of St.

Michael, the adventure was not reserved for him. The illustrious

discoverer was doomed to fall a victim to that miserable jealousy with

which a little spirit regards the achievements of a great one.

The Spanish colonial domain was broken up into a number of petty

governments, which were dispensed sometimes to court favorites,

though, as the duties of the post, at this early period, were of an arduous

nature, they were more frequently reserved for men of some practical

talent and enterprise. Columbus, by virtue of his original contract with

the Crown, had jurisdiction over the territories discovered by himself,

embracing some of the principal islands, and a few places on the

continent. This jurisdiction differed from that of other functionaries,

inasmuch as it was hereditary; a privilege found in the end too

considerable for a subject, and commuted, therefore, for a title and a

pension. These colonial governments were multiplied with the increase

of empire, and by the year 1524, the period at which our narrative

properly commences, were scattered over the islands, along the Isthmus

of Darien, the broad tract of Terra Firma, and the recent conquests of

Mexico. Some of these governments were of no great extent. Others,

like that of Mexico, were of the dimensions of a kingdom; and most had

an indefinite range for discovery assigned to them in their immediate

neighborhood, by which each of the petty potentates might enlarge his

territorial sway, and enrich his followers and himself. This politic

arrangement best served the ends of the Crown, by affording a perpetual

incentive to the spirit of enterprise. Thus living on their own little

domains at a long distance from the mother country, these military rulers

held a sort of vice-regal sway, and too frequently exercised it in the most

oppressive and tyrannical manner; oppressive to the native, and

tyrannical towards their own followers. It was the natural consequence,

when men, originally low in station, and unprepared by education for

office, were suddenly called to the possession of a brief, but in its nature

irresponsible, authority. It was not till after some sad experience of these

results, that measures were taken to hold these petty tyrants in check by

means of regular tribunals, or Royal Audiences, as they were termed,

which, composed of men of character and learning, might interpose the

arm of the law, or, at least, the voice of remonstrance, for the protection

of both colonist and native.

Among the colonial governors, who were indebted for their situation to

their rank at home, was Don Pedro Arias de Avila, or Pedrarias, as

usually called. He was married to a daughter of Dona Beatriz de

Bobadilla, the celebrated Marchioness of Moya, best known as the friend

of Isabella the Catholic. He was a man of some military experience and

considerable energy of character. But, as it proved, he was of a

malignant temper; and the base qualities, which might have passed

unnoticed in the obscurity of private life, were made conspicuous, and

perhaps created in some measure, by sudden elevation to power; as the

sunshine, which operates kindly on a generous soil, and stimulates it to

production, calls forth from the unwholesome marsh only foul and

pestilent vapors. This man was placed over the territory of Castilla del

Oro, the ground selected by Nunez de Balboa for the theatre of his

discoveries. Success drew on this latter the jealousy of his superior, for

it was crime enough in the eyes of Pedrarias to deserve too well. The

tragical history of this cavalier belongs to a period somewhat earlier than

that with which we are to be occupied. It has been traced by abler hands

than mine, and, though brief, forms one of the most brilliant passages in

the annals of the American conquerors.4

But though Pedrarias was willing to cut short the glorious career of his

rival, he was not insensible to the important consequences of his

discoveries. He saw at once the unsuitableness of Darien for prosecuting

expeditions on the Pacific, and, conformably to the original suggestion of

Balboa, in 1519, he caused his rising capital to be transferred from the

shores of the Atlantic to the ancient site of Panama, some distance east of

the present city of that name.5 This most unhealthy spot, the cemetery of

many an unfortunate colonist, was favorably situated for the great object

of maritime enterprise; and the port, from its central position, afforded

the best point of departure for expeditions, whether to the north or south,

along the wide range of undiscovered coast that lined the Southern

Ocean. Yet in this new and more favorable position, several years were

suffered to elapse before the course of discovery took the direction of

Peru. This was turned exclusively towards the north, or rather west, in'

obedience to the orders of government, which had ever at heart the

detection of a strait that, as was supposed, must intersect some part or

other of the long-extended Isthmus. Armament after armament was

fitted out with this chimerical object; and Pedrarias saw his domain

extending every year farther and farther without deriving any

considerable advantage from his acquisitions. Veragua, Costa Rica,

Nicaragua, were successively occupied; and his brave cavaliers forced a

way across forest and mountain and warlike tribes of savages, till, at

Honduras, they came in collision with the companions of Cortes, the

Conquerors of Mexico, who had descended from the great northern

plateau on the regions of Central America, and thus completed the

survey of this wild and mysterious land.

It was not till 1522 that a regular expedition was despatched in the

direction south of Panama, under the conduct of Pascual de Andagoya, a

cavalier of much distinction in the colony. But that officer penetrated

only to the Puerto de Pinas, the limit of Balboa's discoveries, when the

bad state of his health compelled him to reembark and abandon his

enterprise at its commencement.6

Yet the floating rumors of the wealth and civilization of a mighty nation

at the South were continually reaching the ears and kindling the dreamy

imaginations of the colonists; and it may seem astonishing that an

expedition in that direction should have been so long deferred. But the

exact position and distance of this fairy realm were matter of conjecture.

The long tract of intervening country was occupied by rude and warlike

races; and the little experience which the Spanish navigators had already

had of the neighboring coast and its inhabitants, and still more, the

tempestuous character of the seas--for their expeditions had taken place

at the most unpropitious seasons of the year--enhanced the apparent

difficulties of the undertaking, and made even their stout hearts shrink

from it.

Such was the state of feeling in the little community of Panama for

several years after its foundation. Meanwhile, the dazzling conquest of

Mexico gave a new impulse to the ardor of discovery, and, in 1524, three

men were found in the colony, in whom the spirit of adventure triumphed

over every consideration of difficulty and danger that obstructed the

prosecution of the enterprise. One among them was selected as fitted by

his character to conduct it to a successful issue. That man was Francisco

Pizarro; and as he held the same conspicuous post in the Conquest of

Peru that was occupied by Cortes in that of Mexico it will be necessary

to take a brief review of his early history.

Book 2

Chapter 2

Francisco Pizarro--His Early History--First Expedition To The South--

Distresses Of The Voyagers--Sharp Encounters--Return To Panama--

Almagro's Expedition

1524-1525

Francisco Pizarro was born at Truxillo, a city of Estremadura, in Spain.

The period of his birth is uncertain; but probably it was not far from

1471.1 He was an illegitimate child, and that his parents should not have

taken pains to perpetuate the date of his birth is not surprising. Few care

to make a particular record of their transgressions. His father, Gonzalo

Pizarro, was a colonel of infantry, and served with some distinction in

the Italian campaigns under the Great Captain, and afterwards in the

wars of Navarre. His mother, named Francisca Gonzales, was a person

of humble condition in the town of Truxillo.2

But little is told of Francisco's early years, and that little not always

deserving of credit. According to some, he was deserted by both his

parents, and left as a foundling at the door of one of the principal

churches of the city. It is even said that he would have perished, had he

not been nursed by a sow.3 This is a more discreditable fountain of

supply than that assigned to the infant Romulus. The early history of

men who have made their names famous by deeds in after-life, like the

early history of nations, affords a fruitful field for invention.

It seems certain that the young Pizarro received little care from either of

his parents, and was suffered to grow up as nature dictated. He was

neither taught to read nor write, and his principal occupation was that of

a swineherd. But this torpid way of life did not suit the stirring spirit of

Pizarro, as he grew older, and listened to the tales, widely circulated and

so captivating to a youthful fancy, of the New World. He shared in the

popular enthusiasm, and availed himself of a favorable moment to

abandon his ignoble charge, and escape to Seville, the port where the

Spanish adventurers embarked to seek their fortunes in the West. Few of

them could have turned their backs on their native land with less cause

for regret than Pizarro.4

In what year this important change in his destiny took place we are not

informed. The first we hear of him in the New World is at the island of

Hispaniola, in 1510, where he took part in the expedition to Uraba in

Terra Firma, under Alonzo de Ojeda, a cavalier whose character and

achievements find no parallel but in the pages of Cervantes. Hernando

Cortes, whose mother was a Pizarro, and related, it is said, to the father

of Francis, was then in St. Domingo, and prepared to accompany

Ojeda's expedition, but was prevented by a temporary lameness. Had he

gone, the fall of the Aztec empire might have been postponed for some

time longer, and the sceptre of Montezuma have descended in peace to

his posterity. Pizarro shared in the disastrous fortunes of Ojeda's colony,

and, by his discretion, obtained so far the confidence of his commander,

as to be left in charge of the settlement, when the latter returned for

supplies to the islands. The lieutenant continued at his perilous post for

nearly two months, waiting deliberately until death should have thinned

off the colony sufficiently to allow the miserable remnant to be

embarked in the single small vessel that remained to it.5

After this, we find him associated with Balboa, the discoverer of the

Pacific, and cooperating with him in establishing the settlement at

Darien. He had the glory of accompanying this gallant cavalier in his

terrible march across the mountains, and of being among the first

Europeans, therefore, whose eyes were greeted with the long-promised

vision of the Southern Ocean.

After the untimely death of his commander, Pizarro attached himself to

the fortunes of Pedrarias, and was employed by that governor in several

military expeditions, which, if they afforded nothing else, gave him the

requisite training for the perils and privations that lay in the path of the

future Conqueror of Peru.

In 1515, he was selected, with another cavalier named Morales, to cross

the Isthmus and traffic with the natives on the shores of the Pacific. And

there, while engaged in collecting his booty of gold and pearls from the

neighbouring islands, as his eye ranged along the shadowy line of coast

till it faded in the distance, his imagination may have been first fired with

the idea of, one day, attempting the conquest of the mysterious regions

beyond the mountains. On the removal of the seat of government across

the Isthmus to Panama, Pizarro accompanied Pedrarias, and his name

became conspicuous among the cavaliers who extended the line of

conquest to the north over the martial tribes of Veragua. But all these

expeditions, whatever glory they may have brought him, were productive

of very little gold; and, at the age of fifty, the captain Pizarro found

himself in possession only of a tract of unhealthy land in the

neighborhood of the capital, and of such repartimientos of the natives as

were deemed suited to his military services.6 The New World was a

lottery, where the great prizes were so few that the odds were much

against the player; yet in the game he was content to stake health,

fortune, and, too often, his fair fame.

Such was Pizarro's situation when, in 1522, Andagoya returned from his

unfinished enterprise to the south of Panama, bringing back with him

more copious accounts than any hitherto received of the opulence and

grandeur of the countries that lay beyond.7 It was at this time, too, that

the splendid achievements of Cortes made their impression on the public

mind, and gave a new impulse to the spirit of adventure. The southern

expeditions became a common topic of speculation among the colonists

of Panama. But the region of gold, as it lay behind the mighty curtain of

the Cordilleras, was still veiled in obscurity. No idea could be formed of

its actual distance; and the hardships and difficulties encountered by the

few navigators who had sailed in that direction gave a gloomy character

to the undertaking, which had hitherto deterred the most daring from

embarking in it. There is no evidence that Pizarro showed any particular

alacrity in the cause. Nor were his own funds such as to warrant any

expectation of success without great assistance from others. He found

this in two individuals of the colony, who took too important a part in the

subsequent transactions not to be particularly noticed.

One of them, Diego de Almagro, was a soldier of fortune somewhat

older, it seems probable, than Pizarro; though little is known of his birth,

and even the place of it is disputed. It is supposed to have been the town

of Almagro in New Castile, whence his own name, for want of a better

source was derived; for, like Pizarro, he was a foundling.8 Few

particulars are known of him till the present period of our history; for he

was one of those whom the working of turbulent times first throws upon

the surface,--less fortunate, perhaps, than if left in their original

obscurity. In his military career, Almagro had earned the reputation of a

gallant soldier. He was frank and liberal in his disposition, somewhat

hasty and ungovernable in his passions, but, like men of a sanguine

temperament, after the first sallies had passed away, not difficult to be

appeased. He had, in short, the good qualities and the defects incident to

an honest nature, not improved by the discipline of early education or

self-control.

The other member of the confederacy was Hernando de Luque, a

Spanish ecclesiastic, who exercised the functions of vicar at Panama, and

had formerly filled the office of schoolmaster in the Cathedral of Darien.

He seems to have been a man of singular prudence and knowledge of the

world; and by his respectable qualities had acquired considerable

influence in the little community to which he belonged, as well as the

control of funds, which made his cooperation essential to the success of

the present enterprise.

It was arranged among the three associates, that the two cavaliers should

contribute their little stock towards defraying the expenses of the

armament, but by far the greater part of the funds was to be furnished by

Luque. Pizarro was to take command of the expedition, and the business

of victualling and equipping the vessels was assigned to Almagro. The

associates found no difficulty in obtaining the consent of the governor to

their undertaking. After the return of Andagoya, he had projected

another expedition, but the officer to whom it was to be intrusted died.

Why he did not prosecute his original purpose, and commit the affair to

an experienced captain like Pizarro, does not appear. He was probably

not displeased that the burden of the enterprise should be borne by

others, so long as a good share of the profits went into his own coffers.

This he did not overlook in his stipulations.9

Thus fortified with the funds of Luque, and the consent of the governor,

Almagro was not slow to make preparations for the voyage. Two small

vessels were purchased, the larger of which had been originally built by

Balboa, for himself, with a view to this same expedition. Since his

death, it had lain dismantled in the harbor of Panama. It was now

refitted as well as circumstances would permit, and put in order for sea,

while the stores and provisions were got on board with an alacrity which

did more credit, as the event proved, to Almagro's zeal than to his

forecast.

There was more difficulty in obtaining the necessary complement of

hands; for a general feeling of distrust had gathered round expeditions in

this direction, which could not readily be overcome. But there were

many idle hangers-on in the colony, who had come out to mend their

fortunes, and were willing to take their chance of doing so, however

desperate. From such materials as these, Almagro assembled a body of

somewhat more than a hundred men;10 and every thing being ready,

Pizarro assumed the command, and, weighing anchor, took his departure

from the little port of Panama, about the middle of November, 1524..

Almagro was to follow in a second vessel of inferior size, as soon as it

could be fitted out.11

The time of year was the most unsuitable that could have been selected

for the voyage; for it was the rainy season, when the navigation to the

south, impeded by contrary winds, is made doubly dangerous by the

tempests that sweep over the coast. But this was not understood by the

adventurers. After touching at the Isle of Pearls, the frequent resort of

navigators, at a few leagues' distance from Panama, Pizarro held his way

across the Gulf of St. Michael, and steered almost due south for the

Puerto de Pinas, a headland in the province of Biruquete, which marked

the limit of Andagoya's voyage. Before his departure, Pizarro had

obtained all the information which he could derive from that officer in

respect to the country, and the route he was to follow. But the cavalier's

own experience had been too limited to enable him to be of much

assistance.

Doubling the Puerto de Pinas, the little vessel entered the river Biru, the

misapplication of which name is supposed by some to have given rise to

that of the empire of the Incas.12 After sailing up this stream for a

couple of leagues, Pizarro came to anchor, and disembarking his whole

force except the sailors, proceeded at the head of it to explore the

country. The land spread out into a vast swamp, where the heavy rains

had settled in pools of stagnant water, and the muddy soil afforded no

footing to the traveller. This dismal morass was fringed with woods,

through whose thick and tangled undergrowth they found it difficult to

penetrate and emerging from them, they came out on a hilly country, so

rough and rocky in its character, that their feet were cut to the bone, and

the weary soldier, encumbered with his heavy mail or thick-padded

doublet of cotton, found it difficult to drag one foot after the other. The

heat at times was oppressive; and, fainting with toil and famished for

want of food, they sank down on the earth from mere exhaustion. Such

was the ominous commencement of the expedition to Peru.

Pizarro, however, did not lose heart. He endeavored to revive the spirits

of his men, and besought them not to be discouraged by difficulties

which a brave heart would be sure to overcome, reminding them of the

golden prize which awaited those who persevered. Yet it was obvious

that nothing was to be gained by remaining longer in this desolate region.

Returning to their vessel, therefore, it was suffered to drop down the

river and proceed along its southern course on the great ocean.

After coasting a few leagues, Pizarro anchored off a place not very

inviting in its appearance, where he took in a supply of wood and water.

Then, stretching more towards the open sea, he held on in the same

direction towards the south. But in this he was baffled by a succession of

heavy tempests, accompanied with such tremendous peals of thunder and

floods of rain as are found only in the terrible storms of the tropics. The

sea was lashed into fury, and, swelling into mountain billows, threatened

every moment to overwhelm the crazy little bark, which opened at every

seam. For ten days the unfortunate voyagers were tossed about by the

pitiless elements, and it was only by incessant exertions--the exertions of

despair--that they preserved the ship from foundering. To add to their

calamities, their provisions began to fail, and they were short of water, of

which they had been furnished only with a small number of casks; for

Almagro had counted on their recruiting their scanty supplies, from time

to time, from the shore. Their meat was wholly consumed, and they

were reduced to the wretched allowance of two ears of Indian corn a day

for each man.

Thus harassed by hunger and the elements, the battered voyagers were

too happy to retrace their course and regain the port where they had last

taken in supplies of wood and water. Yet nothing could be more

unpromising than the aspect of the country. It had the same character of

low, swampy soil, that distinguished the former landing-place; while

thick-matted forests, of a depth which the eye could not penetrate,

stretched along the coast to an interminable length. It was in vain that

the wearied Spaniards endeavored to thread the mazes of this tangled

thicket, where the creepers and flowering vines, that shoot up luxuriant

in a hot and humid atmosphere, had twined themselves round the huge

trunks of the forest-trees, and made a network that could be opened only

with the axe. The rain, in the mean time, rarely slackened, and the

ground, strewed with leaves and saturated with moisture, seemed to slip

away beneath their feet.

Nothing could be more dreary and disheartening than the aspect of these

funereal forests; where the exhalations from the overcharged surface of

the ground poisoned the air, and seemed to allow no life, except that,

indeed, of myriads of insects, whose enamelled wings glanced to and fro,

like sparks of fire, in every opening of the woods. Even the brute

creation appeared instinctively to have shunned the fatal spot, and

neither beast nor bird of any description was seen by the wanderers.

Silence reigned unbroken in the heart of these dismal solitudes; at least,

the only sounds that could be heard were the plashing of the rain-drops

on the leaves, and the tread of the forlorn adventurers.13

Entirely discouraged by the aspect of the country, the Spaniards began to

comprehend that they had gained nothing by changing their quarters

from sea to shore, and they felt the most serious apprehensions of

perishing from famine in a region which afforded nothing but such

unwholesome berries as they could pick up here and there in the woods.

They loudly complained of their hard lot, accusing their commander as

the author of all their troubles, and as deluding them with promises of a

fairy land, which seemed to recede in proportion as they advanced. It

was of no use, they said, to contend against fate, and it was better to take

their chance of regaining the port of Panama in time to save their lives,

than to wait where they were to die of hunger.

But Pizarro was prepared to encounter much greater evils than these,

before returning to Panama, bankrupt in credit, an object of derision as a

vainglorious dreamer, who had persuaded others to embark in an

adventure which he had not the courage to carry through himself. The

present was his only chance. To return would be ruin. He used every

argument, therefore, that mortified pride or avarice could suggest to turn

his followers from their purpose; represented to them that these were the

troubles that necessarily lay in the path of the discoverer; and called to

mind the brilliant successes of their countrymen in other quarters, and

the repeated reports, which they had themselves received, of the rich

regions along the coast, of which it required only courage and constancy

on their part to become the masters. Yet, as their present exigencies

were pressing, he resolved to send back the vessel to the Isle of Pearls, to

lay in a fresh stock of provisions for his company, which might enable

them to go forward with renewed confidence. The distance was not

great, and in a few days they would all be relieved from their perilous

position. The officer detached on this service was named Montenegro;

and taking with him nearly half the company, after receiving Pizarro's

directions, he instantly weighed anchor, and steered for the Isle of Pearls.

On the departure of his vessel, the Spanish commander made an attempt

to explore the country, and see if some Indian settlement might not be

found, where he could procure refreshments for his followers. But his

efforts were vain, and no trace was visible of a human dwelling; though,

in the dense and impenetrable foliage of the equatorial regions, the

distance of a few rods might suffice to screen a city from observation.

The only means of nourishment left to the unfortunate adventurers were

such shell-fish as they occasionally picked up on the shore, or the bitter

buds of the palm-tree, and such berries and unsavory herbs as grew wild

in the woods. Some of these were so poisonous, that the bodies of those

who ate them swelled up and were tormented with racking pains. Others,

preferring famine to this miserable diet, pined away from weakness and

actually died of starvation. Yet their resolute leader strove to maintain

his own cheerfulness and to keep up the drooping spirits of his men. He

freely shared with them his scanty stock of provisions, was unwearied in

his endeavors to procure them sustenance, tended the sick, and ordered

barracks to be constructed for their accommodation, which might, at

least, shelter them from the drenching storms of the season. By this

ready sympathy with his followers in their sufferings, he obtained an

ascendency over their rough natures, which the assertion of authority, at

least in the present extremity, could never have secured to him.

Day after day, week after week, had now passed away, and no tidings

were heard of the vessel that was to bring relief to the wanderers. In vain

did they strain their eyes over the distant waters to catch a glimpse of

their coming friends. Not a speck was to be seen in the blue distance,

where the canoe of the savage dared not venture, and the sail of the white

man was not yet spread. Those who had borne up bravely at first now

gave way to despondency, as they felt themselves abandoned by their

countrymen on this desolate shore. They pined under that sad feeling

which "maketh the heart sick." More than twenty of the little band had

already died, and the survivors seemed to be rapidly following.14

At this crisis reports were brought to Pizarro of a light having been seen

through a distant opening in the woods. He hailed the tidings with

eagerness, as intimating the existence of some settlement in the

neighborhood; and, putting himself at the head of a small party, went in

the direction pointed out, to reconnoitre. He was not disappointed, and,

after extricating himself from a dense wilderness of underbrush and

foliage, he emerged into an open space, where a small Indian village was

planted. The timid inhabitants, on the sudden apparition of the strangers,

quitted their huts in dismay; and the famished Spaniards, rushing in,

eagerly made themselves masters of their contents. These consisted of

different articles of food, chiefly maize and cocoanuts. The supply,

though small, was too seasonable not to fill them with rapture.

The astonished natives made no attempt at resistance. But, gathering

more confidence as no violence was offered to their persons, they drew

nearer the white men, and inquired, "Why they did not stay at home and

till their own lands, instead of roaming about to rob others who had

never harmed them?"15 Whatever may have been their opinion as to

the question of right, the Spaniards, no doubt, felt then that it would have

been wiser to do so. But the savages wore about their persons gold

ornaments of some size, though of clumsy workmanship. This furnished

the best reply to their demand. It was the golden bait which lured the

Spanish adventurer to forsake his pleasant home for the trials of the

wilderness. From the Indians Pizarro gathered a confirmation of the

reports he had so often received of a rich country lying farther south; and

at the distance of ten days' journey across the mountains, they told him,

there dwelt a mighty monarch whose dominions had been invaded by

another still more powerful, the Child of the Sun.16 It may have been

the invasion of Quito that was meant, by the valiant Inca Huayna Capac,

which took place some years previous to Pizarro's expedition.

At length, after the expiration of more than six weeks, the Spaniards

beheld with delight the return of the wandering bark that had borne away

their comrades, and Montenegro sailed into port with an ample supply of

provisions for his famishing countrymen. Great was his horror at the

aspect presented by the latter, their wild and haggard countenances and

wasted frames,--so wasted by hunger and disease, that their old

companions found it difficult to recognize them. Montenegro accounted

for his delay by incessant head winds and bad weather; and he himself

had also a doleful tale to tell of the distress to which he and his crew had

been reduced by hunger, on their passage to the Isle of Pearls.--It is

minute incidents like these with which we have been occupied, that

enable one to comprehend the extremity of suffering to which the

Spanish adventurer was subjected in the prosecution of his great work of

discovery.

Revived by the substantial nourishment to which they had so long been

strangers, the Spanish cavaliers, with the buoyancy that belongs to men

of a hazardous and roving life, forgot their past distresses in their

eagerness to prosecute their enterprise. Reembarking therefore on board

his vessel, Pizarro bade adieu to the scene of so much suffering, which

he branded with the appropriate name of Puerto de la Hambre, the Port

of Famine, and again opened his sails to a favorable breeze that bore him

onwards towards the south.

Had he struck boldly out into the deep, instead of hugging the

inhospitable shore, where he had hitherto found so little to recompense

him, he might have spared himself the repetition of wearisome and

unprofitable adventures, and reached by a shorter route the point of his

destination. But the Spanish mariner groped his way along these

unknown coasts, landing at every convenient headland, as if fearful lest

some fruitful region or precious mine might be overlooked, should a

single break occur in the line of survey. Yet it should be remembered,

that, though the true point of Pizarro's destination is obvious to us,

familiar with the topography of these countries, he was wandering in the

dark, feeling his way along, inch by inch, as it were, without chart to

guide him, without knowledge of the seas or of the bearings of the coast,

and even with no better defined idea of the object at which he aimed than

that of a land teeming with gold, that lay somewhere at the south! It was

a hunt after an El Dorado; on information scarcely more circumstantial

or authentic than that which furnished the basis of so many chimerical

enterprises in this land of wonders. Success only, the best argument with

the multitude, redeemed the expeditions of Pizarro from a similar

imputation of extravagance.

Holding on his southerly course under the lee of the shore, Pizarro, after

a short run, found himself abreast of an open reach of country, or at least

one less encumbered with wood, which rose by a gradual swell, as it

receded from the coast. He landed with a small body of men, and,

advancing a short distance into the interior, fell in with an Indian hamlet.

It was abandoned by the inhabitants, who, on the approach of the

invaders, had betaken themselves to the mountains; and the Spaniards,

entering their deserted dwellings, found there a good store of maize and

other articles of food, and rude ornaments of gold of considerable value.

Food was not more necessary for their bodies than was the sight of gold,

from time to time, to stimulate their appetite for adventure. One

spectacle, however, chilled their blood with horror. This was the sight of

human flesh, which they found roasting before the fire, as the barbarians

had left it, preparatory to their obscene repast. The Spaniards,

conceiving that they had fallen in with a tribe of Caribs, the only race in

that part of the New World known to be cannibals, retreated precipitately

to their vessel.17 They were not steeled by sad familiarity with the

spectacle, like the Conquerors of Mexico.

The weather, which had been favorable, now set in tempestuous, with

heavy squalls, accompanied by incessant thunder and lightning, and the

rain, as usual in these tropical tempests, descended not so much in drops

as in unbroken sheets of water. The Spaniards, however, preferred to

take their chance on the raging element rather than remain in the scene of

such brutal abominations. But the fury of the storm gradually subsided,

and the little vessel held on her way along the coast, till, coming abreast

of a bold point of land named by Pizarro Punta Quemada, he gave orders

to anchor. The margin of the shore was fringed with a deep belt of

mangrove-trees, the long roots of which, interlacing one another, formed

a kind of submarine lattice-work that made the place difficult of

approach. Several avenues, opening through this tangled thicket, led

Pizarro to conclude that the country must be inhabited, and he

disembarked, with the greater part of his force, to explore the interior.

He had not penetrated more than a league, when he found his conjecture

verified by the sight of an Indian town of larger size than those he had

hitherto seen, occupying the brow of an eminence, and well defended by

palisades. The inhabitants, as usual, had fled; but left in their dwellings a

good supply of provisions and some gold trinkets, which the Spaniards

made no difficulty of appropriating to themselves. Pizarro's flimsy bark

had been strained by the heavy gales it had of late encountered, so that it

was unsafe to prosecute the voyage further without more thorough

repairs than could be given to her on this desolate coast. He accordingly

determined to send her back with a few hands to be careened at Panama,

and meanwhile to establish his quarters in his present position, which

was so favorable for defence. But first he despatched a small party

under Montenegro to reconnoitre the country, and, if possible, to open a

communication with the natives.

The latter were a warlike race. They had left their habitations in order to

place their wives and children in safety. But they had kept an eye on the

movements of the invaders, and, when they saw their forces divided, they

resolved to fall upon each body singly before it could communicate with

the other. So soon, therefore, as Montenegro had penetrated through the

defiles of the lofty hills, which shoot out like spurs of the Cordilleras

along this part of the coast, the Indian warriors, springing from their

ambush, sent off a cloud of arrows and other missiles that darkened the

air, while they made the forest ring with their shrill warwhoop. The

Spaniards, astonished at the appearance of the savages, with their naked

bodies gaudily painted, and brandishing their weapons as they glanced

among the trees and straggling underbrush that choked up the defile,

were taken by surprise and thrown for a moment into disarray. Three of

their number were killed and several wounded. Yet, speedily rallying,

they returned the discharge of the assailants with their cross-bows,--for

Pizarro's troops do not seem to have been provided with muskets on this

expedition,--and then gallantly charging the enemy, sword in hand,

succeeded in driving them back into the fastnesses of the mountains. But

it only led them to shift their operations to another quarter, and make an

assault on Pizarro before he could be relieved by his lieutenant.

Availing themselves of their superior knowledge of the passes, they

reached that commander's quarters long before Montenegro, who had

commenced a countermarch in the same direction. And issuing from the

woods, the bold savages saluted the Spanish garrison with a tempest of

darts and arrows, some of which found their way through the joints of the

harness and the quilted mail of the cavaliers. But Pizarro was too well

practised a soldier to be off his guard. Calling his men about him, he

resolved not to abide the assault tamely in the works, but to sally out, and

meet the enemy on their own ground. The barbarians, who had advanced

near the defences, fell back as the Spaniards burst forth with their valiant

leader at their head. But, soon returning with admirable ferocity to the

charge, they singled out Pizarro, whom, by his bold bearing and air of

authority, they easily recognized as the chief; and, hurling at him a storm

of missiles, wounded him, in spite of his armour, in no less than seven

places.18

Driven back by the fury of the assault directed against his own person,

the Spanish commander retreated down the slope of the hill, still

defending himself as he could with sword and buckler, when his foot

slipped and he fell. The enemy set up a fierce yell of triumph, and some

of the boldest sprang forward to despatch him. But Pizarro was on his

feet in an instant, and, striking down two of the foremost with his strong

arm, held the rest at bay till his soldiers could come to the rescue. The

barbarians, struck with admiration at his valor, began to falter, when

Montenegro luckily coming on the ground at the moment, and falling on

their rear, completed their confusion; and, abandoning the field, they

made the best of their way into the recesses of the mountains. The

ground was covered with their slain; but the victory was dearly

purchased by the death of two more Spaniards and a long list of

wounded.

A council of war was then called. The position had lost its charm in the

eyes of the Spaniards, who had met here with the first resistance they had

yet experienced on their expedition. It was necessary to place the

wounded in some secure spot, where their injuries could be attended to.

Yet it was not safe to proceed farther, in the crippled state of their vessel.

On the whole, it was decided to return and report their proceedings to the

governor; and, though the magnificent hopes of the adventurers had not

been realized, Pizarro trusted that enough had been done to vindicate the

importance of the enterprise, and to secure the countenance of Pedrarias

for the further prosecution of it.19

Yet Pizarro could not make up his mind to present himself, in the present

state of the undertaking, before the governor. He determined, therefore,

to be set on shore with the principal part of his company at Chicama, a

place on the main land, at a short distance west of Panama From this

place, which he reached without any further accident, he despatched the

vessel, and in it his treasurer, Nicolas de Ribera, with the gold he had

collected, and with instructions to lay before the governor in full account

of his discoveries, and the result of the expedition.

While these events were passing, Pizarro's associate, Almagro, had been

busily employed in fitting out another vessel for the expedition at the

port of Panama. It was not till long after his friend's departure that he

was prepared to follow him. With the assistance of Luque, he at length

succeeded in equipping a small caravel and embarking a body of

between sixty and seventy adventurers, mostly of the lowest order of the

colonists. He steered in the track of his comrade, with the intention of

overtaking him as soon as possible. By a signal previously concerted of

notching the trees, he was able to identify the spots visited by Pizarro,--

Puerto de Pinas, Puerto de la Hambre, Pueblo Quemado--touching

successively at every point of the coast explored by his countrymen,

though in a much shorter time. At the last-mentioned place he was

received by the fierce natives with the same hostile demonstrations as

Pizarro, though in the present encounter the Indians did not venture

beyond their defences. But the hot blood of Almagro was so exasperated

by this check, that he assaulted the place and carried it sword in hand,

setting fire to the outworks and dwellings, and driving the wretched

inhabitants into the forests.

His victory cost him dear. A wound from a javelin on the head caused

an inflammation in one of his eyes, which, after great anguish, ended in

the loss of it. Yet the intrepid adventurer did not hesitate to pursue his

voyage, and, after touching at several places on the coast, some of which

rewarded him with a considerable booty in gold, he reached the mouth of

the Rio de San Juan, about the fourth degree of north latitude. He was

struck with the beauty of the stream, and with the cultivation on its

borders, which were sprinkled with Indian cottages showing some skill in

their construction, and altogether intimating a higher civilization than

any thing he had yet seen.

Still his mind was filled with anxiety for the fate of Pizarro and his

followers. No trace of them had been found on the coast for a long time,

and it was evident they must have foundered at sea, or made their way

back to Panama. This last he deemed most probable; as the vessel might

have passed him unnoticed under the cover of the night, or of the dense

fogs that sometimes hang over the coast.

Impressed with this belief, he felt no heart to continue his voyage of

discovery, for which, indeed, his single bark, with its small complement

of men, was altogether inadequate. He proposed, therefore, to return

without delay. On his way, he touched at the Isle of Pearls, and there

learned the result of his friend's expedition, and the place of his present

residence. Directing his course, at once, to Chicama, the two cavaliers

soon had the satisfaction of embracing each other, and recounting their

several exploits and escapes. Almagro returned even better freighted

with gold than his confederate, and at every step of his progress he had

collected fresh confirmation of the existence of some great and opulent

empire in the South. The confidence of the two friends was much

strengthened by their discoveries; and they unhesitatingly pledged

themselves to one another to die rather than abandon the enterprise.20

The best means of obtaining the levies requisite for so formidable an

undertaking--more formidable, as it now appeared to them, than before --

were made the subject of long and serious discussion. It was at length

decided that Pizarro should remain in his present quarters, inconvenient

and even unwholesome as they were rendered by the humidity of the

climate, and the pestilent swarms of insects that filled the atmosphere.

Almagro would pass over to Panama, lay the case before the governor,

and secure, if possible, his good-will towards the prosecution of the

enterprise. If no obstacle were thrown in their way from this quarter,

they might hope, with the assistance of Luque, to raise the necessary

supplies; while the results of the recent expedition were sufficiently

encouraging to draw adventurers to their standard in a community which

had a craving for excitement that gave even danger a charm, and which

held life cheap in comparison with gold.

Book 2

Chapter 3

The Famous Contract-Second Expedition--Ruiz Explores The Coast--

Pizarro's Sufferings In The Forests--Arrival Of New Recruits-

Fresh Discoveries And Disasters--Pizarro On The Isle Of Gallo

1526--1527

On his arrival at Panama, Almagro found that events had taken a turn

less favorable to his views than he had anticipated. Pedrarias, the

governor, was preparing to lead an expedition in person against a

rebellious officer in Nicaragua; and his temper, naturally not the most

amiable, was still further soured by this defection of his lieutenant, and

the necessity it imposed on him of a long and perilous march. When,

therefore, Almagro appeared before him with the request that he might

be permitted to raise further levies to prosecute his enterprise, the

governor received him with obvious dissatisfaction, listened coldly to the

narrative of his losses, turned an incredulous ear to his magnificent

promises for the future, and bluntly demanded an account of the lives,

which had been sacrificed by Pizarro's obstinacy, but which, had they

been spared, might have stood him in good stead in his present

expedition to Nicaragua. He positively declined to countenance the rash

schemes of the two adventurers any longer, and the conquest of Peru

would have been crushed in the bud, but for the efficient interposition of

the remaining associate, Fernando de Luque.

This sagacious ecclesiastic had received a very different impression from

Almagro's narrative, from that which had been made on the mind of the

irritable governor. The actual results of the enterprise in gold and silver,

thus far, indeed, had been small,--forming a mortifying contrast to the

magnitude of their expectations. But, in another point of view, they were

of the last importance; since the intelligence which the adventurers had

gained in every successive stage of their progress confirmed, in the

strongest manner, the previous accounts, received from Andogoya and

others, of a rich Indian empire at the south, which might repay the

trouble of conquering it as well as Mexico had repaid the enterprise of

Cortes. Fully entering, therefore, into the feelings of his military

associates, he used all his influence with the governor to incline him to a

more favorable view of Almagro's petition; and no one in the little

community of Panama exercised greater influence over the councils of

the executive than Father Luque, for which he was indebted no less to his

discretion and acknowledged sagacity than to his professional station.

But while Pedrarias, overcome by the arguments or importunity of the

churchman, yielded a reluctant assent to the application, he took care to

testify his displeasure with Pizarro, on whom he particularly charged the

loss of his followers, by naming Almagro as his equal in command in the

proposed expedition. This mortification sunk deep into Pizarro's mind.

He suspected his comrade, with what reason does not appear, of

soliciting this boon from the governor. A temporary coldness arose

between them, which subsided, in outward show, at least, on Pizarro's

reflecting that it was better to have this authority conferred on a friend

than on a stranger, perhaps an enemy. But the seeds of permanent

distrust were left in his bosom, and lay waiting for the due season to

ripen into a fruitful harvest of discord.1

Pedrarias had been originally interested in the enterprise, at least, so far

as to stipulate for a share of the gains, though he had not contributed, as

it appears, a single ducat towards the expenses. He was at length,

however, induced to relinquish all right to a share of the contingent

profits. But, in his manner of doing so, he showed a mercenary spirit,

better becoming a petty trader than a high officer of the Crown. He

stipulated that the associates should secure to him the sum of one

thousand pesos de oro in requital of his good-will, and they eagerly

closed with his proposal, rather than be encumbered with his pretensions.

For so paltry a consideration did he resign his portion of the rich spoil of

the Incas! 2 But the governor was not gifted with the eye of a prophet.

His avarice was of that short-sighted kind which defeats itself. He had

sacrificed the chivalrous Balboa just as that officer was opening to him

the conquest of Peru, and he would now have quenched the spirit of

enterprise, that was taking the same direction, in Pizarro and his

associates.

Not long after this, in the following year, he was succeeded in his

government by Don Pedro de los Rios, a cavalier of Cordova. It was the

policy of the Castilian Crown to allow no one of the great colonial

officers to occupy the same station so long as to render himself

formidable by his authority.3 It had, moreover, many particular causes

of disgust with Pedrarias. The functionary they sent out to succeed him

was fortified with ample instructions for the good of the colony, and

especially of the natives, whose religious conversion was urged as a

capital object, and whose personal freedom was unequivocally asserted,

as loyal vassals of the Crown. It is but justice to the Spanish government

to admit that its provisions were generally guided by a humane and

considerate policy, which was as regularly frustrated by the cupidity of

the colonist, and the capricious cruelty of the conqueror. The few

remaining years of Pedrarias were spent in petty squabbles, both of a

personal and official nature; for he was still continued in office, though

in one of less consideration than that which he had hitherto filled. He

survived but a few years, leaving behind him a reputation not to be

envied, of one who united a pusillanimous spirit with uncontrollable

passions; who displayed, notwithstanding, a certain energy of character,

or, to speak more correctly, an impetuosity of purpose, which might have

led to good results had it taken a right direction. Unfortunately, his lack

of discretion was such, that the direction he took was rarely of service to

his country or to himself.

Having settled their difficulties with the governor, and obtained his

sanction to their enterprise, the confederates lost no time in making the

requisite preparations for it. Their first step was to execute the

memorable contract which served as the basis of their future

arrangements; and, as Pizarro's name appears in this, it seems probable

that that chief had crossed over to Panama so soon as the favorable

disposition of Pedrarias had been secured.4 The instrument, after

invoking in the most solemn manner the names of the Holy Trinity and

Our Lady the Blessed Virgin, sets forth, that, whereas the parties have

full authority to discover and subdue the countries and provinces lying

south of the Gulf, belonging to the empire of Peru, and as Fernando de

Luque had advanced the funds for the enterprise in bars of gold of the

value of twenty thousand pesos, they mutually bind themselves to divide

equally among them the whole of the conquered territory. This

stipulation is reiterated over and over again, particularly with reference

to Luque, who, it is declared, is to be entitled to one third of all lands,

repartimientos, treasures of every kind, gold, silver, and precious stones,-

-to one third even of all vassals, rents, and emoluments arising from such

grants as may be conferred by the Crown on either of his military

associates, to be held for his own use, or for that of his heirs, assigns, or

legal representative.

The two captains solemnly engage to devote themselves exclusively to

the present undertaking until it is accomplished; and, in case of failure in

their part of the covenant, they pledge themselves to reimburse Luque for

his advances, for which all the property they possess shall be held

responsible, and this declaration is to be a sufficient warrant for the

execution of judgment against them, in the same manner as if it had

proceeded from the decree of a court of justice.

The commanders, Pizarro and Almagro, made oath, in the name of God

and the Holy Evangelists, sacredly to keep this covenant, swearing it on

the missal, on which they traced with their own hands the sacred emblem

of the cross. To give still greater efficacy to the compact, Father Luque

administered the sacrament to the parties, dividing the consecrated wafer

into three portions, of which each one of them partook; while the

bystanders, says an historian, were affected to tears by this spectacle of

the solemn ceremonial with which these men voluntarily devoted

themselves to a sacrifice that seemed little short of insanity.5

The instrument, which was dated March 10, 1526, was subscribed by

Luque, and attested by three respectable citizens of Panama, one of

whom signed on behalf of Pizarro, and the other for Almagro; since

neither of these parties, according to the avowal of the instrument, was

able to subscribe his own name.6

Such was the singular compact by which three obscure individuals coolly

carved out and partitioned among themselves, an empire of whose

extent, power, and resources, of whose situation, of whose existence,

even, they had no sure or precise knowledge. The positive and

unhesitating manner in which they speak of the grandeur of this empire,

of its stores of wealth, so conformable to the event, but of which they

could have really known so little, forms a striking contrast with the

general skepticism and indifference manifested by nearly every other

person, high and low, in the community of Panama.7

The religious tone of the instrument is not the least remarkable feature in

it, especially when we contrast this with the relentless policy, pursued by

the very men who were parties to it, in their conquest of the country. "In

the name of the Prince of Peace," says the illustrious historian of

America, "they ratified a contract of which plunder and bloodshed were

the objects."8 The reflection seems reasonable. Yet, in criticizing what

is done, as well as what is written, we must take into account the spirit of

the times.9 The invocation of Heaven was natural, where the object of

the undertaking was, in part, a religious one. Religion entered, more or

less, into the theory, at least, of the Spanish conquests in the New World.

That motives of a baser sort mingled largely with these higher ones, and

in different proportions according to the character of the individual, no

one will deny. And few are they that have proposed to themselves a long

career of action without the intermixture of some vulgar personal motive,

--fame, honors, or emolument. Yet that religion furnishes a key to the

American crusades, however rudely they may have been conducted, is

evident from the history of their origin; from the sanction openly given to

them by the Head of the Church; from the throng of self-devoted

missionaries, who followed in the track of the conquerors to garner up

the rich harvest of souls; from the reiterated instructions of the Crown,

the great object of which was the conversion of the natives; from those

superstitious acts of the iron-hearted soldiery themselves, which,

however they may be set down to fanaticism, were clearly too much in

earnest to leave any ground for the charge of hypocrisy. It was indeed a

fiery cross that was borne over the devoted land, scathing and consuming

it in its terrible progress; but it was still the cross, the sign of man's

salvation, the only sign by which generations and generations yet unborn

were to be rescued from eternal perdition.

It is a remarkable fact, which has hitherto escaped the notice of the

historian, that Luque was not the real party to this contract. He

represented another, who placed in his hands the funds required for the

undertaking. This appears from an instrument signed by Luque himself

and certified before the same notary that prepared the original contract.

The instrument declares that the whole sum of twenty thousand pesos

advanced for the expedition was furnished by the Licentiate Gaspar de

Espinosa, then at Panama; that the vicar acted only as his agent and by

his authority; and that, in consequence, the said Espinosa and no other

was entitled to a third of all the profits and acquisitions resulting from

the conquest of Peru. This instrument, attested by three persons, one of

them the same who had witnessed the original contract, was dated on the

6th of August, 1531.10 The Licentiate Espinosa was a respectable

functionary, who had filled the office of principal alcalde in Darien, and

since taken a conspicuous part in the conquest and settlement of Tierra

Firme. He enjoyed much consideration for his personal character and

station; and it is remarkable that so little should be known of the manner

in which the covenant, so solemnly made, was executed in reference to

him. As in the case of Columbus, it is probable that the unexpected

magnitude of the results was such as to prevent a faithful adherence to

the original stipulation; and yet, from the same consideration, one can

hardly doubt that the twenty thousand pesos of the bold speculator must

have brought him a magnificent return. Nor did the worthy vicar of

Panama, as the history will show hereafter, go without his reward.

Having completed these preliminary arrangements, the three associates

lost no time in making preparations for the voyage. Two vessels were

purchased, larger and every way better than those employed on the

former occasion. Stores were laid in, as experience dictated, on a larger

scale than before, and proclamation was made of "an expedition to

Peru." But the call was not readily answered by the skeptical citizens of

Panama. Of nearly two hundred men who had embarked on the former

cruise, not more than three fourths now remained.11 This dismal

mortality, and the emaciated, poverty-stricken aspect of the survivors,

spoke more eloquently than the braggart promises and magnificent

prospects held out by the adventurers. Still there were men in the

community of such desperate circumstances, that any change seemed like

a chance of bettering their condition. Most of the former company also,

strange to say, felt more pleased to follow up the adventure to the end

than to abandon it, as they saw the light of a better day dawning upon

them. From these sources the two captains succeeded in mustering about

one hundred and sixty men, making altogether a very inadequate force

for the conquest of an empire. A few horses were also purchased, and a

better supply of ammunition and military stores than before, though still

on a very limited scale. Considering their funds, the only way of

accounting for this must be by the difficulty of obtaining supplies at

Panama, which, recently founded, and on the remote coast of the Pacific,

could be approached only by crossing the rugged barrier of mountains,

which made the transportation of bulky articles extremely difficult. Even

such scanty stock of materials as it possessed was probably laid under

heavy contribution, at the present juncture, by the governor's

preparations for his own expedition to the north.

Thus indifferently provided, the two captains, each in his own vessel,

again took their departure from Panama, under the direction of

Bartholomew Ruiz, a sagacious and resolute pilot, well experienced in

the navigation of the Southern Ocean. He was a native of Moguer, in

Andalusia, that little nursery of nautical enterprise, which furnished so

many seamen for the first voyages of Columbus. Without touching at the

intervening points of the coast, which offered no attraction to the

voyagers, they stood farther out to sea, steering direct for the Rio de San

Juan, the utmost limit reached by Almagro. The season was better

selected than on the former occasion, and they were borne along by

favorable breezes to the place of their destination, which they reached

without accident in a few days. Entering the mouth of the river, they saw

the banks well lined with Indian habitations; and Pizarro, disembarking,

at the head of a party of soldiers, succeeded in surprising a small village

and carrying off a considerable booty of gold ornaments found in the

dwellings, together with a few of the natives.12

Flushed with their success, the two chiefs were confident that the sight of

the rich spoil so speedily obtained could not fall to draw adventurers to

their standard in Panama; and, as they felt more than ever the necessity

of a stronger force to cope with the thickening population of the country

which they were now to penetrate, it was decided that Almagro should

return with the treasure and beat up for reinforcements, while the pilot

Ruiz, in the other vessel, should reconnoitre the country towards the

south, and obtain such information as might determine their future

movements. Pizarro, with the rest of the force, would remain in the

neighborhood of the river, as he was assured by the Indian prisoners, that

not far in the interior was an open reach of country, where he and his

men could find comfortable quarters. This arrangement was instantly put

in execution. We will first accompany the intrepid pilot in his cruise

towards the south.

Coasting along the great continent, with his canvas still spread to

favorable winds, the first place at which Ruiz cast anchor was off the

little island of Gallo, about two degrees north. The inhabitants, who

were not numerous, were prepared to give him a hostile reception,--for

tidings of the invaders had preceded them along the country, and even

reached this insulated spot. As the object of Ruiz was to explore, not

conquer, he did not care to entangle himself in hostilities with the

natives; so, changing his purpose of landing, he weighed anchor, and ran

down the coast as far as what is now called the Bay of St. Matthew. The

country, which, as he advanced, continued to exhibit evidence of a better

culture as well as of a more dense population than the parts hitherto seen,

was crowded, along the shores, with spectators, who gave no signs of

fear or hostility. They stood gazing on the vessel of the white men as it

glided smoothly into the crystal waters of the bay, fancying it, says an

old writer, some mysterious being descended from the skies.

Without staying long enough on this friendly coast to undeceive the

simple people, Ruiz, standing off shore, struck out into the deep sea; but

he had not sailed far in that direction, when he was surprised by the sight

of a vessel, seeming in the distance like a caravel of considerable size,

traversed by a large sail that carried it sluggishly over the waters. The

old navigator was not a little perplexed by this phenomenon, as he was

confident no European bark could have been before him in these

latitudes, and no Indian nation, yet discovered, not even the civilized

Mexican, was acquainted with the use of sails in navigation. As he drew

near, he found it was a large vessel, or rather raft, called balsa by the

natives, consisting of a number of huge timbers of a light, porous wood,

tightly lashed together, with a frail flooring of reeds raised on them by

way of deck. Two masts or sturdy poles, erected in the middle of the

vessel, sustained a large square-sail of cotton, while a rude kind of

rudder and a movable keel, made of plank inserted between the logs,

enabled the mariner to give a direction to the floating fabric, which held

on its course without the aid of oar or paddle.13 The simple architecture

of this craft was sufficient for the purposes of the natives, and indeed has

continued to answer them to the present day; for the balsa, surmounted

by small thatched huts or cabins, still supplies the most commodious

means for the transportation of passengers and luggage on the streams

and along the shores of this part of the South American continent.

On coming alongside, Ruiz found several Indians, both men and women,

on board, some with rich ornaments on their persons, besides several

articles wrought with considerable skill in gold and silver, which they

were carrying for purposes of traffic to the different places along the

coast. But what most attracted his attention was the woollen cloth of

which some of their dresses were made. It was of a fine texture,

delicately embroidered with figures of birds and flowers, and dyed in

brilliant colors. He also observed in the boat a pair of balances made to

weigh the precious metals.14 His astonishment at these proofs of

ingenuity and civilization, so much higher than anything he had ever

seen in the country, was heightened by the intelligence which he

collected from some of these Indians. Two of them had come from

Tumbez, a Peruvian port, some degrees to the south; and they gave him

to understand, that in their neighborhood the fields were covered with

large flocks of the animals from which the wool was obtained, and that

gold and silver were almost as common as wood in the palaces of their

monarch. The Spaniards listened greedily to reports which harmonized

so well with their fond desires. Though half distrusting the exaggeration,

Ruiz resolved to detain some of the Indians, including the natives of

Tumbez, that they might repeat the wondrous tale to his commander, and

at the same time, by learning the Castilian, might hereafter serve as

interpreters with their countrymen. The rest of the party he suffered to

proceed without further interruption on their voyage. Then holding on

his course, the prudent pilot, without touching at any other point of the

coast, advanced as far as the Punta de Pasado, about half a degree south,

having the glory of being the first European who, sailing in this direction

on the Pacific, had crossed the equinoctial line. This was the limit' of his

discoveries; on reaching which he tacked about, and standing away to the

north, succeeded, after an absence of several weeks, in regaining the spot

where he had left Pizarro and his comrades.15

It was high time; for the spirits of that little band had been sorely tried by

the perils they had encountered. On the departure of his vessels, Pizarro

marched into the interior, in the hope of finding the pleasant champaign

country which had been promised him by the natives. But at every step

the forests seemed to grow denser and darker, and the trees towered to a

height such as he had never seen, even in these fruitful regions, where

Nature works on so gigantic a scale.16 Hill continued to rise above hill,

as he advanced, rolling onward, as it were, by successive waves to join

that colossal barrier of the Andes, whose frosty sides, far away above the

clouds, spread out like a curtain of burnished silver, that seemed to

connect the heavens with the earth.

On crossing these woody eminences, the forlorn adventurers would

plunge into ravines of frightful depth, where the exhalations of a humid

soil steamed up amidst the incense of sweet-scented flowers, which

shone through the deep glooms in every conceivable variety of color.

Birds, especially of the parrot tribe, mocked this fantastic variety of

nature with tints as brilliant as those of the vegetable world. Monkeys

chattered in crowds above their heads, and made grimaces like the

fiendish spirits of these solitudes; while hideous reptiles, engendered in

the slimy depths of the pools, gathered round the footsteps of the

wanderers. Here was seen the gigantic boa, coiling his unwieldy folds

about the trees, so as hardly to be distinguished from their trunks, till he

was ready to dart upon his prey; and alligators lay basking on the borders

of the streams, or, gliding under the waters, seized their incautious victim

before he was aware of their approach.17 Many of the Spaniards

perished miserably in this way, and others were waylaid by the natives,

who kept a jealous eye on their movements, and availed themselves of

every opportunity to take them at advantage. Fourteen of Pizarro's men

were cut off at once in a canoe which had stranded on the bank of a

stream.18

Famine came in addition to other troubles, and it was with difficulty that

they found the means of sustaining life on the scanty fare of the forest,--

occasionally the potato, as it grew without cultivation, or the wild cocoa-

nut, or, on the shore, the salt and bitter fruit of the mangrove; though the

shore was less tolerable than the forest, from the swarms of mosquitos

which compelled the wretched adventurers to bury their bodies up to

their very faces in the sand. In this extremity of suffering, they thought

only of return; and all schemes of avarice and ambition--except with

Pizarro and a few dauntless spirits--were exchanged for the one craving

desire to return to Panama.

It was at this crisis that the pilot Ruiz returned with the report of his

brilliant discoveries; and, not long after, Almagro sailed into port with

his vessel laden with refreshments, and a considerable reinforcement of

volunteers. The voyage of that commander had been prosperous. When

he arrived at Panama, he found the government in the hands of Don

Pedro de los Rios; and he came to anchor in the harbor, unwilling to trust

himself on shore, till he had obtained from Father Luque some account

of the dispositions of the executive. These were sufficiently favorable;

for the new governor had particular instructions fully to carry out the

arrangements made by his predecessor with the associates. On learning

Almagro's arrival, he came down to the port to welcome him, professing

his willingness to afford every facility for the execution of his designs.

Fortunately, just before this period, a small body of military adventurers

had come to Panama from the mother country, burning with desire to

make their fortunes in the New World. They caught much more eagerly

than the old and wary colonists at the golden bait held out to them; and

with their addition, and that of a few supernumerary stragglers who hung

about the town, Almagro found himself at the head of a reinforcement of

at least eighty men, with which, having laid in a fresh supply of stores, he

again set sail for the Rio de San Juan.

The arrival of the new recruits all eager to follow up the expedition, the

comfortable change in their circumstances produced by an ample supply

of refreshments, and the glowing pictures of the wealth that awaited them

in the south, all had their effect on the dejected spirits of Pizarro's

followers. Their late toils and privations were speedily forgotten, and,

with the buoyant and variable feelings incident to a freebooter's life, they

now called as eagerly on their commander to go forward in the voyage,

as they had before called on him to abandon it. Availing themselves of

the renewed spirit of enterprise, the captains embarked on board their

vessels, and, under the guidance of the veteran pilot, steered in the same

track he had lately pursued.

But the favorable season for a southern course, which in these latitudes

lasts but a few months in the year, had been suffered to escape. The

breezes blew steadily towards the north, and a strong current, not far

from shore, set in the same direction. The winds frequently rose into

tempests, and the unfortunate voyagers were tossed about, for many

days, in the boiling surges, amidst the most awful storms of thunder and

lightning, until, at length, they found a secure haven in the island of

Gallo, already visited by Ruiz. As they were now too strong in numbers

to apprehend an assault, the crews landed, and, experiencing no

molestation from the natives, they continued on the island for a fortnight,

refitting their damaged vessels, and recruiting themselves after the

fatigues of the ocean. Then, resuming their voyage, the captains stood

towards the south until they reached the Bay of St. Matthew. As they

advanced along the coast, they were struck, as Ruiz had been before,

with the evidences of a higher civilization constantly exhibited in the

general aspect of the country and its inhabitants. The hand of cultivation

was visible in every quarter. The natural appearance of the coast, too,

had something in it more inviting; for, instead of the eternal labyrinth of

mangrove-trees, with their complicated roots snarled into formidable

coils under the water, as if to waylay and entangle the voyager, the low

margin of the sea was covered with a stately growth of ebony, and with a

species of mahogany, and other hard woods that take the most brilliant

and variegated polish. The sandal-wood, and many balsamic trees of

unknown names, scattered their sweet odors far and wide, not in an

atmosphere tainted with vegetable corruption, but on the pure breezes of

the ocean, bearing health as well as fragrance on their wings. Broad

patches of cultivated land intervened, disclosing hill-sides covered with

the yellow maize and the potato, or checkered, in the lower levels, with

blooming plantations of cacao.19

The villages became more numerous; and, as the vessels rode at anchor

off the port of Tacamez, the Spaniards saw before them a town of two

thousand houses or more, laid out into streets, with a numerous

population clustering around it in the suburbs.20 The men and women

displayed many ornaments of gold and precious stones about their

persons, which may seem strange, considering that the Peruvian Incas

claimed a monopoly of jewels for themselves and the nobles on whom

they condescended to bestow them. But, although the Spaniards had

now reached the outer limits of the Peruvian empire, it was not Peru, but

Quito, and that portion of it but recently brought under the sceptre of the

Incas, where the ancient usages of the people could hardly have been

effaced under the oppressive system of the American despots. The

adjacent country was, moreover, particularly rich in gold, which,

collected from the washings of the streams, still forms one of the staple

products of Barbacoas. Here, too, was the fair River of Emeralds, so

called from the quarries of the beautiful gem on its borders, from which

the Indian monarchs enriched their treasury.21

The Spaniards gazed with delight on these undeniable evidences of

wealth, and saw in the careful cultivation of the soil a comfortable

assurance that they had at length reached the land which had so long

been seen in brilliant, though distant, perspective before them. But here

again they were doomed to be disappointed by the warlike spirit of the

people, who, conscious of their own strength, showed no disposition to

quail before the invaders. On the contrary, several of their canoes shot

out, loaded with warriors, who, displaying a gold mask as their ensign,

hovered round the vessels with looks of defiance, and, when pursued,

easily took shelter under the lee of the land.22

A more formidable body mustered along the shore, to the number,

according to the Spanish accounts, of at least ten thousand warriors,

eager, apparently, to come to close action with the invaders. Nor could

Pizarro, who had landed with a party of his men in the hope of a

conference with the natives, wholly prevent hostilities; and it might have

gone hard with the Spaniards, hotly pressed by their resolute enemy so

superior in numbers, but for a ludicrous accident reported by the

historians as happening to one of the cavaliers. This was a fall from his

horse, which so astonished the barbarians, who were not prepared for

this division of what seemed one and the same being into two, that, filled

with consternation, they fell back, and left a way open for the Christians

to regain their vessels! 23

A council of war was now called. It was evident that the forces of the

Spaniards were unequal to a contest with so numerous and well-

appointed a body of natives; and, even if they should prevail here, they

could have no hope of stemming the torrent which must rise against them

in their progress--for the country was becoming more and more thickly

settled, and towns and hamlets started into view at every new headland

which they doubled. It was better, in the opinion of some,--the faint-

hearted,-to abandon the enterprise at once, as beyond their strength. But

Almagro took a different view of the affair. "To go home," he said,

"with nothing done, would be ruin, as well as disgrace. There was

scarcely one but had left creditors at Panama, who looked for payment to

the fruits of this expedition. To go home now would be to deliver

themselves at once into their hands. It would be to go to prison. Better

to roam a freeman, though in the wilderness, than to lie bound with

fetters in the dungeons of Panama.24 The only course for them," he

concluded, "was the one lately pursued. Pizarro might find some more

commodious place where he could remain with part of the force while he

himself went back for recruits to Panama. The story they had now to tell

of the riches of the land, as they had seen them with their own eyes,

would put their expedition in a very different light, and could not fail to

draw to their banner as many volunteers as they needed."

But this recommendation, however judicious, was not altogether to the

taste of the latter commander, who did not relish the part, which

constantly fell to him, of remaining behind in the swamps and forests of

this wild country. "It is all very well," he said to Almagro, "for you, who

pass your time pleasantly enough, careering to and fro in your vessel, or

snugly sheltered in a land of plenty at Panama; but it is quite another

matter for those who stay behind to droop and die of hunger in the

wilderness.25 To this Almagro retorted with some heat, professing his

own willingness to take charge of the brave men who would remain with

him, if Pizarro declined it. The controversy assuming a more angry and

menacing tone, from words they would have soon come to blows, as

both, laying their hands on their swords, were preparing to rush on each

other, when the treasurer Ribera, aided by the pilot Ruiz, succeeded in

pacifying them. It required but little effort on the part of these cooler

counsellors to convince the cavaliers of the folly of a conduct which

must at once terminate the expedition in a manner little creditable to its

projectors. A reconciliation consequently took place, sufficient, at least

in outward show, to allow the two commanders to act together in

concert. Almagro's plan was then adopted; and it only remained to find

out the most secure and convenient spot for Pizarro's quarters.

Several days were passed in touching at different parts of the coast, as

they retraced their course; but everywhere the natives appeared to have

caught the alarm, and assumed a menacing, and from their numbers a

formidable, aspect. The more northerly region, with its unwholesome

fens and forests, where nature wages a war even more relentless than

man, was not to be thought of. In this perplexity, they decided on the

little island of Gallo, as being, on the whole, from its distance from the

shore, and from the scantiness of its population, the most eligible spot

for them in their forlorn and destitute condition.26

But no sooner was the resolution of the two captains made known, than a

feeling of discontent broke forth among their followers, especially those

who were to remain with Pizarro on the island, "What!" they exclaimed,

"were they to be dragged to that obscure spot to die by hunger? The

whole expedition had been a cheat and a failure, from beginning to end.

The golden countries, so much vaunted, had seemed to fly before them

as they advanced; and the little gold they had been fortunate enough to

glean had all been sent back to Panama to entice other fools to follow

their example. What had they got in return for all their sufferings? The

only treasures they could boast were their bows and arrows, and they

were now to be left to die on this dreary island, without so much as a

rood of consecrated ground to lay their bones in!27

In this exasperated state of feeling, several of the soldiers wrote back to

their friends, informing them of their deplorable condition, and

complaining of the cold-blooded manner in which they were to be

sacrificed to the obstinate cupidity of their leaders. But the latter were

wary enough to anticipate this movement, and Almagro defeated it by

seizing all the letters in the vessels, and thus cutting off at once the

means of communication with their friends at home. Yet this act of

unscrupulous violence, like most other similar acts, fell short of its

purpose; for a soldier named Sarabia had the ingenuity to evade it by

introducing a letter into a ball of cotton, which was to be taken to

Panama as a specimen of the products of the country, and presented to

the governor's lady.28

The letter, which was signed by several of the disaffected soldiery

besides the writer, painted in gloomy colors the miseries of their

condition, accused the two commanders of being the authors of this, and

called on the authorities of Panama to interfere by sending a vessel to

take them from the desolate spot, while some of them might still be

found surviving the horrors of their confinement. The epistle concluded

with a stanza, in which the two leaders were stigmatized as partners in a

slaughter-house; one being employed to drive in the cattle for the other

to butcher. The verses, which had a currency in their day among the

colonists to which they were certainly not entitled by their poetical

merits, may be thus rendered into corresponding doggerel:

"Look out, Senor Governor,

For the drover while he's near;

Since he goes home to get the sheep

For the butcher who stays here." 29

Book 2

Chapter 4

Indignation Of The Governor--Stern Resolution Of Pizarro-

Prosecution Of The Voyage--Brilliant Aspect Of Tumbez-

Discoveries Along The Coast--Return To Panama-

Pizarro Embarks For Spain

1527--1528

Not long after Almagro's departure, Pizarro sent off the remaining vessel,

under the pretext of its being put in repair at Panama. It probably

relieved him of a part of his followers, whose mutinous spirit made them

an obstacle rather than a help in his forlorn condition, and with whom he

was the more willing to part from the difficulty of finding subsistence on

the barren spot which he now occupied.

Great was the dismay occasioned by the return of Almagro and his

followers, in the little community of Panama; for the letter,

surreptitiously conveyed in the ball of cotton, fell into the hands for

which it was intended, and the contents soon got abroad with usual

quantity of exaggeration. The haggard and dejected mien of the

adventurers, of itself, told a tale sufficiently disheartening, and it was

soon generally believed that the few ill-fated survivors of the expedition

were detained against their will by Pizarro, to end their days with their

disappointed leader on his desolate island.

Pedro de los Rios, the governor, was so much incensed at the result of

the expedition, and the waste of life it had occasioned to the colony, that

he turned a deaf ear to all the applications of Luque and Almagro for

further countenance in the affair; he derided their sanguine anticipations

of the future, and finally resolved to send an officer to the isle of Gallo,

with orders to bring back every Spaniard whom he should find still living

in that dreary abode. Two vessels were immediately despatched for the

purpose, and placed under charge of a cavalier named Tafur, a native of

Cordova.

Meanwhile Pizarro and his followers were experiencing all the miseries

which might have been expected from the character of the barren spot on

which they were imprisoned. They were, indeed, relieved from all

apprehensions of the natives, since these had quitted the island on its

occupation by the white men; but they had to endure the pains of hunger

even in a greater degree than they had formerly experienced in the wild

woods of the neighboring continent. Their principal food was crabs and

such shell-fish as they could scantily pick up along the shores. Incessant

storms of thunder and lightning, for it was the rainy season, swept over

the devoted island, and drenched them with a perpetual flood. Thus,

halfnaked, and pining with famine, there were few in that little company

who did not feel the spirit of enterprise quenched within them, or who

looked for any happier termination of their difficulties than that afforded

by a return to Panama. The appearance of Tafur, therefore, with his two

vessels, well stored with provisions, was greeted with all the rapture that

the crew of a sinking wreck might feel on the arrival of some unexpected

succour; and the only thought, after satisfying the immediate cravings of

hunger, was to embark and leave the detested isle forever.

But by the same vessel letters came to Pizarro from his two confederates,

Luque and Almagro, beseeching him not to despair in his present

extremity, but to hold fast to his original purpose. To return under the

present circumstances would be to seal the fate of the expedition; and

they solemnly engaged, if he would remain firm at his post, to furnish

him in a short time with the necessary means for going forward.1

A ray of hope was enough for the courageous spirit of Pizarro. It does

not appear that he himself had entertained, at any time, thoughts of

returning. If he had, these words of encouragement entirely banished

them from his bosom, and he prepared to stand the fortune of the cast on

which he had so desperately ventured. He knew, however, that

solicitations or remonstrances would avail little with the companions of

his enterprise; and he probably did not care to win over the more timid

spirits who, by perpetually looking back, would only be a clog on his

future movements. He announced his own purpose, however, in a

laconic but decided manner, characteristic of a man more accustomed to

act than to talk, and well calculated to make an impression on his rough

followers.

Drawing his sword, he traced a line with it on the sand from east to west.

Then turning towards the south, "Friend and comrades!" he said, "on that

side are toil, hunger, nakedness, the drenching storm, desertion, and

death; on this side, ease and pleasure. There lies Peru with its riches;

here, Panama, and its poverty. Choose, each man, what best becomes a

brave Castilian. For my part, I go to the south." So saying, he stepped

across the line.2 He was followed by the brave pilot Ruiz; next by Pedro

de Candia, a cavalier, born, as his name imports, in one of the isles of

Greece. Eleven others successively crossed the line, thus intimating their

willingness to abide the fortunes of their leader, for good or for evil.3

Fame, to quote the enthusiastic language of an ancient chronicler, has

commemorated the names of this little band, "who thus, in the face or

difficulties unexampled in history, with death rather than riches for their

reward, preferred it all to abandoning their honor, and stood firm by their

leader as an example of loyalty to future ages." 4

But the act excited no such admiration in the mind of Tafur, who looked

on it as one of gross disobedience to the commands of the governor, and

as little better than madness, involving the certain destruction of the

parties engaged in it. He refused to give any sanction to it himself by

leaving one of his vessels with the adventurers to prosecute their voyage,

and it was with great difficulty that he could be persuaded even to allow

them a part of the stores which he had brought for their support. This

had no influence on their determination, and the little party, bidding

adieu to their returning comrades, remained unshaken in their purpose of

abiding the fortunes of their commander.5

There is something striking to the imagination in the spectacle of these

few brave spirits, thus consecrating themselves to a daring enterprise,

which seemed as far above their strength as any recorded in the fabulous

annals of knight-errantry. A handful of men, without food, without

clothing, almost without arms, without knowledge of the land to which

they were bound, without vessel to transport them, were here left on a

lonely rock in the ocean with the avowed purpose of carrying on a

crusade against a powerful empire, staking their lives on its success.

What is there in the legends of chivalry that surpasses it? This was the

crisis of Pizarro's fate. There are moments in the lives of men, which, as

they are seized or neglected, decide their future destiny.6 Had Pizarro

faltered from his strong purpose, and yielded to the occasion, now so

temptingly presented, for extricating himself and his broken band from

their desperate position, his name would have been buried with his

fortunes, and the conquest of Peru would have been left for other and

more successful adventurers. But his constancy was equal to the

occasion, and his conduct here proved him competent to the perilous

post he had assumed, and inspired others with a confidence in him which

was the best assurance of success.

In the vessel that bore back Tafur and those who seceded from the

expedition the pilot Ruiz was also permitted to return, in order to

cooperate with Luque and Almagro in their application for further

succour.

Not long after the departure of the ships, it was decided by Pizarro to

abandon his present quarters, which had little to recommend them, and

which, he reflected, might now be exposed to annoyance from the

original inhabitants, should they take courage and return, on learning the

diminished number of the white men. The Spaniards, therefore, by his

orders, constructed a rude boat or raft, on which they succeeded in

transporting themselves to the little island of Gorgona, twenty-five

leagues to the north of their present residence. It lay about five leagues

from the continent, and was uninhabited. It had some advantages over

the isle of Gallo; for it stood higher above the sea, and was partially

covered with wood, which afforded shelter to a species of pheasant, and

the hare or rabbit of the country, so that the Spaniards, with their cross-

bows, were enabled to procure a tolerable supply of game. Cool streams

that issued from the living rock furnished abundance of water, though the

drenching rains that fell, without intermission, left them in no danger of

perishing by thirst. From this annoyance they found some protection in

the rude huts which they constructed; though here, as in their former

residence, they suffered from the no less intolerable annoyance of

venomous insects, which multiplied and swarmed in the exhalations of

the rank and stimulated soil. In this dreary abode Pizarro omitted no

means by which to sustain the drooping spirits of his men. Morning

prayers were duly said, and the evening hymn to the Virgin was regularly

chanted; the festivals of the church were carefully commemorated, and

every means taken by their commander to give a kind of religious

character to his enterprise, and to inspire his rough followers with a

confidence in the protection of Heaven, that might support them in their

perilous circumstances.7

In these uncomfortable quarters, their chief employment was to keep

watch on the melancholy ocean, that they might hail the first signal of the

anticipated succour. But many a tedious month passed away, and no

sign of it appeared. All around was the same wide waste of waters,

except to the eastward, where the frozen crest of the Andes, touched with

the ardent sun of the equator, glowed like a ridge of fire along the whole

extent of the great continent. Every speck in the distant horizon was

carefully noticed, and the drifting timber or masses of sea-weed, heaving

to and fro on the bosom of the waters, was converted by their

imaginations into the promised vessel; till, sinking under successive

disappointments, hope gradually gave way to doubt, and doubt settled

into despair.8

Meanwhile the vessel of Tafur had reached the port of Panama. The

tidings which she brought of the inflexible obstinacy of Pizarro and his

followers filled the governor with indignation. He could look on it in no

other light than as an act of suicide, and steadily refused to send further

assistance to men who were obstinately bent on their own destruction.

Yet Luque and Almagro were true to their engagements. They

represented to the governor, that, if the conduct of their comrade was

rash, it was at least in the service of the Crown, and in prosecuting the

great work of discovery. Rios had been instructed, on his taking the

government, to aid Pizarro in the enterprise; and to desert him now

would be to throw away the remaining chance of success, and to incur

the responsibility of his death and that of the brave men who adhered to

him. These remonstrances, at length, so far operated on the mind of that

functionary, that he reluctantly consented that a vessel should be sent to

the island of Gorgona, but with no more hands than were necessary to

work her, and with positive instructions to Pizarro to return in six months

and report himself at Panama, whatever might be the future results of his

expedition.

Having thus secured the sanction of the executive, the two associates lost

no time in fitting out a small vessel with stores and a supply of arms and

ammunition, and despatched it to the island. The unfortunate tenants of

this little wilderness, who had now occupied it for seven months,9 hardly

dared to trust their senses when they descried the white sails of the

friendly bark coming over the waters. And although, when the vessel

anchored off the shore, Pizarro was disappointed to find that it brought

no additional recruits for the enterprise, yet he greeted it with joy, as

affording the means of solving the great problem of the existence of the

rich southern empire, and of thus opening the way for its future conquest.

Two of his men were so ill, that it was determined to leave them in the

care of some of the friendly Indians who had continued with him through

the whole of his sojourn, and to call for them on his return. Taking with

him the rest of his hardy followers and the natives of Tumbez, he

embarked, and, speedily weighing anchor, bade adieu to the "Hell," as it

was called by the Spaniards, which had been the scene of so much

suffering and such undaunted resolution.10

Every heart was now elated with hope, as they found themselves once

more on the waters, under the guidance of the good pilot Ruiz, who,

obeying the directions of the Indians, proposed to steer for the land of

Tumbez, which would bring them at once into the golden empire of the

Incas, --the El Dorado, of which they had been so long in pursuit.

Passing by the dreary isle of Gallo, which they had such good cause to

remember, they stood farther out to sea until they made point Tacumez,

near which they had landed on their previous voyage. They did not

touch at any part of the coast, but steadily held on their way, though

considerably impeded by the currents, as well as by the wind, which

blew with little variation from the south. Fortunately, the wind was light,

and, as the weather was favorable, their voyage, though slow, was not

uncomfortable. In a few days, they came in sight of Point Pasado, the

limit of the pilot's former navigation; and, crossing the line, the little bark

entered upon those unknown seas which had never been ploughed by

European keel before. The coast, they observed, gradually declined

from its former bold and rugged character, gently sloping towards the

shore, and spreading out into sandy plains, relieved here and there by

patches of uncommon richness and beauty; while the white cottages of

the natives glistening along the margin of the sea, and the smoke that

rose among the distant hills, intimated the increasing population of the

country.

At length, after the lapse of twenty days from their departure from the

island, the adventurous vessel rounded the point of St. Helena, and

glided smoothly into the waters of the beautiful gulf of Guayaquil. The

country was here studded along the shore with towns and villages,

though the mighty chain of the Cordilleras, sweeping up abruptly from

the coast, left but a narrow strip of emerald verdure, through which

numerous rivulets, spreading fertility around them, wound their way into

the sea.

The voyagers were now abreast of some of the most stupendous heights

of this magnificent range; Chimborazo, with its broad round summit,

towering like the dome of the Andes, and Cotopaxi, with its dazzling

cone of silvery white, that knows no change except from the action of its

own volcanic fires; for this mountain is the most terrible of the American

volcanoes, and was in formidable activity at no great distance from the

period of our narrative. Well pleased with the signs of civilization that

opened on them at every league of their progress, the Spaniards, at

length, came to anchor, off the island of Santa Clara, lying at the

entrance of the bay of Tumbez.11

The place was uninhabited, but was recognized by the Indians on board,

as occasionally resorted to by the warlike people of the neighboring isle

of Puna, for purposes of sacrifice and worship. The Spaniards found on

the spot a few bits of gold rudely wrought into various shapes, and

probably designed as offerings to the Indian deity. Their hearts were

cheered, as the natives assured them they would see abundance of the

same precious metal in their own city of Tumbez.

The following morning they stood across the bay for this place. As they

drew near, they beheld a town of considerable size, with many of the

buildings apparently of stone and plaster, situated in the bosom of a

fruitful meadow, which seemed to have been redeemed from the sterility

of the surrounding country by careful and minute irrigation. When at

some distance from shore, Pizarro saw standing towards him several

large balsas, which were found to be filled with warriors going on an

expedition against the island of Puna. Running alongside of the Indian

flotilla, he invited some of the chiefs to come on board of his vessel.

The Peruvians gazed with wonder on every object which met their eyes,

and especially on their own countrymen, whom they had little expected

to meet there. The latter informed them in what manner they had fallen

into the hands of the strangers, whom they described as a wonderful race

of beings, that had come thither for no harm, but solely to be made

acquainted with the country and its inhabitants. This account was

confirmed by the Spanish commander, who persuaded the Indians to

return in their balsas and report what they had learned to their townsmen,

requesting them at the same time to provide his vessel with refreshments,

as it was his desire to enter into a friendly intercourse with the natives.

The people of Tumbez were gathered along the shore, and were gazing

with unutterable amazement on the floating castle, which, now having

dropped anchor, rode lazily at its moorings in their bay. They eagerly

listened to the accounts of their countrymen, and instantly reported the

affair to the curaca or ruler of the district, who, conceiving that the

strangers must be beings of a superior order, prepared at once to comply

with their request. It was not long before several balsas were seen

steering for the vessel laden with bananas, plantains, yuca, Indian corn,

sweet potatoes, pine-apples, cocoa-nuts, and other rich products of the

bountiful vale of Tumbez. Game and fish, also, were added, with a

number of llamas, of which Pizarro had seen the rude drawings

belonging to Balboa, but of which till now he had met with no living

specimen. He examined this curious animal, the Peruvian sheep,--or, as

the Spaniards called it, the "little camel" of the Indians,--with much

interest, greatly admiring the mixture of wool and hair which supplied

the natives with the materials for their fabrics.

At that time there happened to be at Tumbez an Inca noble, or orejon, --

for so, as I have already noticed, men of his rank were called by the

Spaniards, from the huge ornaments of gold attached to their ears. He

expressed great curiosity to see the wonderful strangers, and had,

accordingly, come out with the balsas for the purpose. It was easy to

perceive from the superior quality of his dress, as well as from the

deference paid to him by the others, that he was a person of

consideration, and Pizarro received him with marked distinction. He

showed him the different parts of the ship, explaining to him the uses of

whatever engaged his attention, and answering his numerous queries, as

well as he could, by means of the Indian interpreters. The Peruvian chief

was especially desirous of knowing whence and why Pizarro and his

followers had come to these shores. The Spanish captain replied, that he

was the vassal of a great prince, the greatest and most powerful in the

world, and that he had come to this country to assert his master's lawful

supremacy over it. He had further come to rescue the inhabitants from

the darkness of unbelief in which they were now wandering. They

worshipped an evil spirit, who would sink their souls into everlasting

perdition; and he would give them the knowledge of the true and only

God, Jesus Christ, since to believe in him was eternal salvation.12

The Indian prince listened with deep attention and apparent wonder; but

answered nothing. It may be, that neither he nor his interpreters had any

very distinct ideas of the doctrines thus abruptly revealed to them. It

may be that he did not believe there was any other potentate on earth

greater than the Inca; none, at least, who had a better right to rule over

his dominions. And it is very possible he was not disposed to admit that

the great luminary whom he worshipped was inferior to the God of the

Spaniards. But whatever may have passed in the untutored mind of the

barbarian, he did not give vent to it, but maintained a discreet silence,

without any attempt to controvert or to convince his Christian antagonist.

He remained on board the vessel till the hour of dinner, of which he

partook with the Spaniards, expressing his satisfaction at the strange

dishes, and especially pleased with the wine, which he pronounced far

superior to the fermented liquors of his own country. On taking leave, he

courteously pressed the Spaniards to visit Tumbez, and Pizarro

dismissed him with the present, among other things, of an iron hatchet,

which had greatly excited his admiration; for the use of iron, as we have

seen, was as little known to the Peruvians as to the Mexicans.

On the day following, the Spanish captain sent one of his own men,

named Alonso de Molina, on shore, accompanied by a negro who had

come in the vessel from Panama, together with a present for the curaca

of some swine and poultry, neither of which were indigenous to the New

World. Towards evening his emissary returned with a fresh supply of

fruits and vegetables, that the friendly people sent to the vessel. Molina

had a wondrous tale to tell. On landing, he was surrounded by the

natives, who expressed the greatest astonishment at his dress, his fair

complexion, and his long beard. The women, especially, manifested

great curiosity in respect to him, and Molina seemed to be entirely won

by their charms and captivating manners. He probably intimated his

satisfaction by his demeanor, since they urged him to stay among them,

promising in that case to provide him with a beautiful wife.

Their surprise was equally great at the complexion of his sable

companion. They could not believe it was natural, and tried to rub off

the imaginary dye with their hands. As the African bore all this with

characteristic good-humor, displaying at the same time his rows of ivory

teeth, they were prodigiously delighted.13 The animals were no less

above their comprehension; and, when the cock crew, the simple people

clapped their hands, and inquired what he was saying.14 Their intellects

were so bewildered by sights so novel, that they seemed incapable of

distinguishing between man and brute.

Molina was then escorted to the residence of the curaca, whom he found

living in much state, with porters stationed at his doors, and with a

quantity of gold and silver vessels, from which he was served. He was

then taken to different parts of the Indian city, saw a fortress built of

rough stone, and, though low, spreading over a large extent of ground.15

Near this was a temple; and the Spaniard's description of its decorations.

blazing with gold and silver, seemed so extravagant, that Pizarro,

distrusting his whole account, resolved to send a more discreet and

trustworthy emissary on the following day.16

The person selected was Pedro de Candia, the Greek cavalier mentioned

as one of the first who intimated his intention to share the fortunes of his

commander. He was sent on shore, dressed in complete mail as became

a good knight, with his sword by his side, and his arquebuse on his

shoulder. The Indians were even more dazzled by his appearance than

by Molina's, as the sun fell brightly on his polished armour, and glanced

from his military weapons. They had heard much of the formidable

arquebuse from their townsmen who had come in the vessel, and they

besought Candia "to let it speak to them." He accordingly set up a

wooden board as a target, and, taking deliberate aim, fired off the

musket. The flash of the powder and the startling report of the piece, as

the board, struck by the ball, was shivered into splinters, filled the

natives with dismay. Some fell on the ground, covering their faces with

their hands, and others approached the cavalier with feelings of awe,

which were gradually dispelled by the assurance they received from the

smiling expression of his countenance.17

They then showed him the same hospitable attentions which they had

paid to Molina; and his description of the marvels of the place, on his

return, fell nothing short of his predecessor's. The fortress, which was

surrounded by a triple row of wall, was strongly garrisoned. The temple

he described as literally tapestried with plates of gold and silver.

Adjoining this structure was a sort of convent appropriated to the Inca's

destined brides, who manifested great curiosity to see him. Whether this

was gratified is not clear; but Candia described the gardens of the

convent, which he entered, as glowing with imitations of fruits and

vegetables all in pure gold and silver!18 He had seen a number of

artisans at work, whose sole business seemed to be to furnish these

gorgeous decorations for the religious houses.

The reports of the cavalier may have been somewhat over-colored.19 It

was natural that men coming from the dreary wilderness, in which they

had been buried the last six months, should have been vividly impressed

by the tokens of civilization which met them on the Peruvian coast. But

Tumbez was a favorite city of the Peruvian princes. It was the most

important place on the northern borders of the empire, contiguous to the

recent acquisition of Quito. The great Tupac Yupanqui had established a

strong fortress there, and peopled it with a colony of mitimaes. The

temple, and the house occupied by the Virgins of the Sun, had been

erected by Huayna Capac, and were liberally endowed by that Inca, after

the sumptuous fashion of the religious establishments of Peru. The town

was well supplied with water by numerous aqueducts, and the fruitful

valley in which it was embosomed, and the ocean which bathed its

shores, supplied ample means of subsistence to a considerable

population. But the cupidity of the Spaniards, after the Conquest, was

not slow in despoiling the place of its glories; and the site of its proud

towers and temples, in less than half a century after that fatal period, was

to be traced only by the huge mass of ruins that encumbered the

ground.20

The Spaniards were nearly mad with joy, says an old writer, at receiving

these brilliant tidings of the Peruvian city. All their fond dreams were

now to be realized, and they had at length reached the realm which had

so long flitted in visionary splendor before them. Pizarro expressed his

gratitude to Heaven for having crowned his labors with so glorious a

result; but he bitterly lamented the hard fate which, by depriving him of

his followers, denied him, at such a moment, the means of availing

himself of his success. Yet he had no cause for lamentation; and the

devout Catholic saw in this very circumstance a providential

interposition which prevented the attempt at conquest, while such

attempts would have been premature. Peru was not yet torn asunder by

the dissensions of rival candidates for the throne; and, united and strong

under the sceptre of a warlike monarch, she might well have bid defiance

to all the forces that Pizarro could muster. "It was manifestly the work

of Heaven," exclaims a devout son of the Church, "that the natives of the

country should have received him in so kind and loving a spirit, as best

fitted to facilitate the conquest; for it was the Lord's hand which led him

and his followers to this remote region for the extension of the holy faith,

and for the salvation of souls." 21

Having now collected all the information essential to his object, Pizarro,

after taking leave of the natives of Tumbez, and promising a speedy

return, weighed anchor, and again turned his prow towards the south.

Still keeping as near as possible to the coast, that no place of importance

might escape his observation, he passed Cape Blanco, and, after sailing

about a degree and a half, made the port of Payta. The inhabitants, who

had notice of his approach, came out in their balsas to get sight of the

wonderful strangers, bringing with them stores of fruits, fish, and

vegetables, with the same hospitable spirit shown by their countrymen at

Tumbez.

After staying here a short time, and interchanging presents of trifling

value with the natives, Pizarro continued his cruise; and, sailing by the

sandy plains of Sechura for an extent of near a hundred miles, he

doubled the Punta de Aguja, and swept down the coast as it fell off

towards the east, still carried forward by light and somewhat variable

breezes. The weather now became unfavorable, and the voyagers

encountered a succession of heavy gales, which drove them some

distance out to sea, and tossed them about for many days. But they did

not lose sight of the mighty ranges of the Andes, which, as they

proceeded towards the south, were still seen, at nearly the same distance

from the shore, rolling onwards, peak after peak, with their stupendous

surges of ice, like some vast ocean, that had been suddenly arrested and

frozen up in the midst of its wild and tumultuous career. With this

landmark always in view, the navigator had little need of star or compass

to guide his bark on her course.

As soon as the tempest had subsided, Pizarro stood in again for the

continent, touching at the principal points as he coasted along.

Everywhere he was received with the same spirit of generous hospitality;

the natives coming out in their balsas to welcome him, laden with their

little cargoes of fruits and vegetables, of all the luscious varieties that

grow in the tierra caliente. All were eager to have a glimpse of the

strangers, the "Children of the Sun," as the Spaniards began already to be

called, from their fair complexions, brilliant armour, and the

thunderbolts which they bore in their hands.22 The most favorable

reports, too, had preceded them, of the urbanity and gentleness of their

manners, thus unlocking the hearts of the simple natives, and disposing

them to confidence and kindness. The iron-hearted soldier had not yet

disclosed the darker side of his character. He was too weak to do so.

The hour of Conquest had not yet come.

In every place Pizarro received the same accounts of a powerful monarch

who ruled over the land, and held his court on the mountain plains of the

interior, where his capital was depicted as blazing with gold and silver,

and displaying all the profusion of an Oriental satrap. The Spaniards,

except at Tumbez, seem to have met with little of the precious metals

among the natives on the coast. More than one writer asserts that they

did not covet them, or, at least, by Pizarro's orders, affected not to do so.

He would not have them betray their appetite for gold, and actually

refused gifts when they were proffered!23 It is more probable that they

saw little display of wealth, except in the embellishments of the temples

and other sacred buildings, which they did not dare to violate. The

precious metals, reserved for the uses of religion and for persons of high

degree, were not likely to abound in the remote towns and hamlets on the

coast.

Yet the Spaniards met with sufficient evidence of general civilization

and power to convince them that there was much foundation for the

reports of the natives. Repeatedly they saw structures of stone and

plaster, and occasionally showing architectural skill in the execution, if

not elegance of design. Wherever they cast anchor, they beheld green

patches of cultivated country redeemed from the sterility of nature, and

blooming with the variegated vegetation of the tropics; while a refined

system of irrigation, by means of aqueducts and canals, seemed to be

spread like a net-work over the surface of the country, making even the

desert to blossom as the rose. At many places where they landed they

saw the great road of the Incas which traversed the sea-coast, often,

indeed, lost in the volatile sands, where no road could be maintained, but

rising into a broad and substantial causeway, as it emerged on a firmer

soil. Such a provision for internal communication was in itself no slight

monument of power and civilization.

Still beating to the south, Pizarro passed the site of the future flourishing

city of Truxillo, founded by himself some years later, and pressed on till

he rode off the port of Santa. It stood on the banks of a broad and

beautiful stream; but the surrounding country was so exceedingly arid

that it was frequently selected as a burial-place by the Peruvians, who

found the soil most favorable for the preservation of their mummies. So

numerous, indeed, were the Indian guacas, that the place might rather be

called the abode of the dead than of the living.24

Having reached this point, about the ninth degree of southern latitude,

Pizarro's followers besought him not to prosecute the voyage farther.

Enough and more than enough had been done, they said, to prove the

existence and actual position of the great Indian empire of which they

had so long been in search. Yet, with their slender force, they had no

power to profit by the discovery. All that remained, therefore, was to

return and report the success of their enterprise to the governor at

Panama. Pizarro acquiesced in the reasonableness of this demand. He

had now penetrated nine degrees farther than any former navigator in

these southern seas, and, instead of the blight which, up to this hour, had

seemed to hang over his fortunes, he could now return in triumph to his

countrymen. Without hesitation, therefore, he prepared to retrace his

course, and stood again towards the north.

On his way, he touched at several places where he had before landed. At

one of these, called by the Spaniards Santa Cruz, he had been invited on

shore by an Indian woman of rank, and had promised to visit her on his

return. No sooner did his vessel cast anchor off the village where she

lived, than she came on board, followed by a numerous train of

attendants. Pizarro received her with every mark of respect, and on her

departure presented her with some trinkets which had a real value in the

eyes of an Indian princess. She urged the Spanish commander and his

companions to return the visit, engaging to send a number of hostages on

board, as security for their good treatment. Pizarro assured her that the

frank confidence she had shown towards them proved that this was

unnecessary. Yet, no sooner did he put off in his boat, the following day,

to go on shore, than several of the principal persons in the place came

alongside of the ship to be received as hostages during the absence of the

Spaniards,--a singular proof of consideration for the sensitive

apprehensions of her guests.

Pizarro found that preparations had been made for his reception in a style

of simple hospitality that evinced some degree of taste. Arbours were

formed of luxuriant and wide-spreading branches, interwoven with

fragrant flowers and shrubs that diffused a delicious perfume through the

air. A banquet was provided, teeming with viands prepared in the style

of the Peruvian cookery, and with fruits and vegetables of tempting hue

and luscious to the taste, though their names and nature were unknown to

the Spaniards. After the collation was ended, the guests were entertained

with music and dancing by a troop of young men and maidens simply

attired, who exhibited in their favorite national amusement all the agility

and grace which the supple limbs of the Peruvian Indians so well

qualified them to display. Before his departure, Pizarro stated to his

kind host the motives of his visit to the country, in the same manner as he

had done on other occasions, and he concluded by unfurling the royal

banner of Castile, which he had brought on shore, requesting her and her

attendants to raise it in token of their allegiance to his sovereign. This

they did with great good-humor, laughing all the while, says the

chronicler, and making it clear that they had a very imperfect conception

of the serious nature of the ceremony. Pizarro was contented with this

outward display of loyalty, and returned to his vessel well satisfied with

the entertainment he had received, and meditating, it may be, on the best

mode of repaying it, hereafter, by the subjugation and conversion of the

country.

The Spanish commander did not omit to touch also at Tumbez, on his

homeward voyage. Here some of his followers, won by the comfortable

aspect of the place and the manners of the people, intimated a wish to

remain, conceiving, no doubt, that it would be better to live where they

would be persons of consequence than to return to an obscure condition

in the community of Panama. One of these men was Alonso de Molina,

the same who had first gone on shore at this place, and been captivated

by the charms of the Indian beauties. Pizarro complied with their

wishes, thinking it would not be amiss to find, on his return, some of his

own followers who would be instructed in the language and usages of the

natives. He was also allowed to carry back in his vessel two or three

Peruvians, for the similar purpose of instructing them in the Castilian.

One of them, a youth named by the Spaniards Felipillo, plays a part of

some importance in the history of subsequent events.

On leaving Tumbez, the adventurers steered directly for Panama,

touching only, on their way, at the ill-fated island of Gorgona to take on

board their two companions who were left there too ill to proceed with

them. One had died, and, receiving the other, Pizarro and his gallant

little band continued their voyage; and, after an absence of at least

eighteen months, found themselves once more safely riding at anchor in

the harbor of Panama.25

The sensation caused by their arrival was great, as might have been

expected. For there were few, even among the most sanguine of their

friends, who did not imagine that they had long since paid for their

temerity, and fallen victims to the climate or the natives, or miserably

perished in a watery grave. Their joy was proportionably great,

therefore, as they saw the wanderers now returned, not only in health and

safety, but with certain tidings of the fair countries which had so long

eluded their grasp. It was a moment of proud satisfaction to the three

associates, who, in spite of obloquy, derision, and every impediment

which the distrust of friends or the coldness of government could throw

in their way, had persevered in their great enterprise until they had

established the truth of what had been so generally denounced as a

chimera. It is the misfortune of those daring spirits who conceive an idea

too vast for their own generation to comprehend, or, at least, to attempt

to carry out, that they pass for visionary dreamers. Such had been the

fate of Luque and his associates. The existence of a rich Indian empire

at the south, which, in their minds, dwelling long on the same idea and

alive to all the arguments in its favor, had risen to the certainty of

conviction, had been derided by the rest of their countrymen as a mere

mirage of the fancy, which, on nearer approach, would melt into air;

while the projectors, who staked their fortunes on the adventure, were

denounced as madmen. But their hour of triumph, their slow and

hardearned triumph, had now arrived.

Yet the governor, Pedro de los Rios, did not seem, even at this moment,

to be possessed with a conviction of the magnitude of the discovery,--or,

perhaps, he was discouraged by its very magnitude. When the

associates, now with more confidence, applied to him for patronage in an

undertaking too vast for their individual resources, he coldly replied, "He

had no desire to build up other states at the expense of his own; nor

would he be led to throw away more lives than had already been

sacrificed by the cheap display of gold and silver toys and a few Indian

sheep!" 26

Sorely disheartened by this repulse from the only quarter whence

effectual aid could be expected, the confederates, without funds, and

with credit nearly exhausted by their past efforts, were perplexed in the

extreme. Yet to stop now,--what was it but to abandon the rich mine

which their own industry and perseverance had laid open, for others to

work at pleasure? In this extremity the fruitful mind of Luque suggested

the only expedient by which they could hope for success. This was to

apply to the Crown itself. No one was so much interested in the result of

the expedition. It was for the government, indeed, that discoveries were

to be made, that the country was to be conquered. The government alone

was competent to provide the requisite means, and was likely to take a

much broader and more liberal view of the matter than a petty colonial

officer.

But who was there qualified to take charge of this delicate mission?

Luque was chained by his professional duties to Panama; and his

associates, unlettered soldiers, were much better fitted for the business of

the camp than of the court. Almagro, blunt, though somewhat swelling

and ostentatious in his address, with a diminutive stature and a

countenance naturally plain, now much disfigured by the loss of an eye,

was not so well qualified for the mission as his companion in arms, who,

possessing a good person and altogether a commanding presence, was

plausible, and, with all his defects of education, could, where deeply

interested, be even eloquent in discourse. The ecclesiastic, however,

suggested that the negotiation should be committed to the Licentiate

Corral, a respectable functionary, then about to return on some public

business to the mother country. But to this Almagro strongly objected.

No one, he said, could conduct the affair so well as the party interested

in it. He had a high opinion of Pizarro's prudence, his discernment of

character, and his cool, deliberate policy.27 He knew enough of his

comrade to have confidence that his presence of mind would not desert

him, even in the new, and therefore embarrassing, circumstances in

which he would be placed at court. No one, he said, could tell the story

of their adventures with such effect, as the man who had been the chief

actor in them. No one could so well paint the unparalleled sufferings and

sacrifices which they had encountered; no other could tell so forcibly

what had been done, what yet remained to do, and what assistance would

be necessary to carry it into execution. He concluded, with characteristic

frankness, by strongly urging his confederate to undertake the mission.

Pizarro felt the force of Almagro's reasoning, and, though with

undisguised reluctance, acquiesced in a measure which was less to his

taste than an expedition to the wilderness. But Luque came into the

arrangement with more difficulty. "God grant, my children," exclaimed

the ecclesiastic, "that one of you may not defraud the other of his

blessing!" 28 Pizarro engaged to consult the interests of his associates

equally with his own. But Luque, it is clear, did not trust Pizarro.

There was some difficulty in raising the funds necessary for putting the

envoy in condition to make a suitable appearance at court; so low had the

credit of the confederates fallen, and so little confidence was yet placed

in the result of their splendid discoveries. Fifteen hundred ducats were at

length raised; and Pizarro, in the spring of 1528, bade adieu to Panama,

accompanied by Pedro de Candia.29 He took with him, also, some of

the natives, as well as two or three llamas, various nice fabrics of cloth,

with many ornaments and vases of gold and silver, as specimens of the

civilization of the country, and vouchers for his wonderful story.

Of all the writers on ancient Peruvian history, no one has acquired so

wide celebrity, or been so largely referred to by later compilers, as the

Inca Garcilasso de la Vega. He was born at Cuzco, in 1540; and was a

mestizo, that is of mixed descent, his father being European, and his

mother Indian. His father, Garcilasso de la Vega, was one of that

illustrious family whose achievements, both in arms and letters, shed

such lustre over the proudest period of the Castilian annals. He came to

Peru, in the suite of Pedro de Alvarado, soon after the country had been

gained by Pizarro. Garcilasso attached himself to the fortunes of this

chief, and, after his death, to those of his brother Gonzalo,--remaining.

constant to the latter, through his rebellion, up to the hour of his rout at

Xaquixaguana, when Garcilasso took the same course with most of his

faction, and passed over to the enemy. But this demonstration of loyalty,

though it saved his life, was too late to redeem his credit with the

victorious party; and the obloquy which he incurred by his share in the

rebellion threw a cloud over his subsequent fortunes, and even over

those of his son, as it appears, in after years.

The historian's mother was of the Peruvian blood royal. She was niece

of Huayna Capac, and granddaughter of the renowned Tupac Inca

Yupanqui. Garcilasso, while he betrays obvious satisfaction that the

blood of the civilized European flows in his veins shows himself not a

little proud of his descent from the royal dynasty of Peru; and this he

intimated by combining with his patronymic the distinguishing title of

the Peruvian princes,---subscribing himself always Garcilasso Inca de la

Vega.

His early years were passed in his native land, where he was reared in the

Roman Catholic faith, and received the benefit of as good an education

as could be obtained, amidst the incessant din of arms and civil

commotion. In 1560, when twenty years of age, he left America, and

from that time took up his residence in Spain. Here he entered the

military service, and held a captain's commission in the war against the

Moriscos, and, afterwards, under Don John of Austria. Though he

acquitted himself honorably in his adventurous career, he does not seem

to have been satisfied with the manner in which his services were

requited by the government. The old reproach of the father's disloyalty

still clung to the son and Garcilasso assures us that this circumstance

defeated all his efforts to recover the large inheritance of landed property

belonging to his mother, which had escheated to the Crown. "Such were

the prejudices against me," says he, "that I could not urge my ancient

claims or expectations; and I left the army so poor and so much in debt,

that I did not care to show myself again at court; but was obliged to

withdraw into an obscure solitudes where I lead a tranquil life for the

brief space that remains to me, no longer deluded by the world or its

vanities."

The scene of this obscure retreat was not, however, as the reader might

imagine from this tone of philosophic resignation, in the depths of some

rural wilderness, but in Cordova, once the gay capital of Moslem

science, and still the busy haunt of men. Here our philosopher occupied

himself with literary labors, the more sweet and soothing to his wounded

spirit, that they tended to illustrate the faded glories of his native land,

and exhibit them in their primitive splendor to the eyes of his adopted

countrymen. "And I have no reason to regret," he says in his Preface to

his account of Florida, "that Fortune has not smiled on me, since this

circumstance has opened a literary career which, I trust, will secure to

me a wider and more enduring fame than could flow from any worldly

prosperity."

In 1609, he gave to the world the First Part of his great work, the

Commentarios Reales, devoted to the history of the country under the

Incas; and in 1616, a few months before his death, he finished the

Second Part, embracing the story of the Conquest, which was published

at Cordova the following year. The chronicler, who thus closed his

labors with his life, died at the ripe old age of seventy-six. He left a

considerabe sum for the purchase of masses for his soul, showing that the

complaints of his poverty are not to be taken literally. His remains were

interred in the cathedral church of Cordova, in a chapel which bears the

name of Garcilasso; and an inscription was placed on his monument,

intimating the high respect in which the historian was held both for his

moral worth and his literary attainments.

The First Part of the Commentarios Reales is occupied, as already

noticed, with the ancient history of the country, presenting a complete

picture of its civilization under the Incas,--far more complete than has

been given by any other writer. Garcilasso's mother was but ten years

old at the time of her cousin Atahuallpa's accession, or rather usurpation,

as it is called by the party of Cuzco. She had the good fortune to escape

the massacre which, according to the chroniclers befell most of her

kindred, and with her brother continued to reside in their ancient capital

after the Conquest. Their conversations naturally turned to the good old

times of the Inca rule, which, colored by their fond regrets, may be

presumed to have lost nothing as seen through the magnifying medium of

the past. The young Garcilasso Listened greedily to the stories which

recounted the magnificence and prowess of his royal ancestors, and

though he made no use of them at the time, they sunk deep into his

memory, to be treasured up for a future occasion. When he prepared,

after the lapse of many years, in his retirement at Cordova, to compose

the history of his country, he wrote to his old companions and

schoolfellows, of the Inca family, to obtain fuller information than he

could get in Spain on various matters of historical interest. He had

witnessed in his youth the ancient ceremonies and usages of his

countrymen, understood the science of their quipus, and mastered many

of their primitive traditions. With the assistance he now obtained from

his Peruvian kindred, he acquired a familiarity with the history of the

great Inca race, and of their national institutions, to an extent that no

person could have possessed, unless educated in the midst of them,

speaking the same language, and with the same Indian blood flowing in

his veins. Garcilasso, in short, was the representative of the conquered

race; and we might expect to find the lights and shadows of the picture

disposed under his pencil so as to produce an effect very different from

that which they had hitherto exhibited under the hands of the

Conquerors.

Such, to a certain extent, is the fact; and this circumstance affords a

means of comparison which would alone render his works of great value

in arriving at just historic conclusions. But Garcilasso wrote late in life,

after the story had been often told by Castilian writers. He naturally

deferred much to men, some of whom enjoyed high credit on the score

both of their scholarship and their social position. His object, he

professes, was not so much to add any thing new of his own, as to correct

their errors and the misconceptions into which they had been brought by

their ignorance of the Indian languages and the usages of his people. He

does, in fact, however, go far beyond this; and the stores of information

which he has collected have made his work a large repository, whence

later laborers in the same field have drawn copious materials. He writes

from the fulness of his heart, and illuminates every topic that he touches

with a variety and richness of illustration, that leave little to be desired

by the most importunate curiosity. The difference between reading his

Commentaries and the accounts of European writers is the difference that

exists between reading a work in the original and in a bald translation.

Garcilasso's writings are an emanation from the Indian mind.

Yet his Commentaries are open to a grave objection,--and one naturally

suggested by his position. Addressing himself to the cultivated

European, he was most desirous to display the ancient glories of his

people, and still more of the Inca race, in their most imposing form.

This, doubtless, was the great spur to his literary labors, for which

previous education, however good for the evil time on which he was

cast, had far from qualified him. Garcilasso, therefore, wrote to effect a

particular object. He stood forth as counsel for his unfortunate

countrymen, pleading the cause of that degraded race before the tribunal

of posterity. The exaggerated tone of panegyric consequent on this

becomes apparent in every page of his work. He pictures forth a state of

society such as an Utopian philosopher would hardly venture to depict.

His royal ancestors became the types of every imaginery excellence, and

the golden age is revived for a nation, which, while the war of

proselytism is raging on its borders, enjoys within all the blessings of

tranquillity and peace. Even the material splendors of the monarchy,

sufficiently great in this land of gold, become heightened, under the

glowing imagination of the Inca chronicler, into the gorgeous illusions of

a fairy tale.

Yet there is truth at the bottom of his wildest conceptions, and it would

be unfair to the Indian historian to suppose that he did not himself

believe most of the magic marvels which he describes. There is no

credulity like that of a Christian convert,---one newly converted to the

faith. From long dwelling in the darkness of paganism, his eyes, when

first opened to the light of truth, have not acquired the power of

discriminating the just proportions of objects, of distinguishing between

the real and the imaginary. Garcilasso was not a convert indeed, for he

was bred from infancy in the Roman Catholic faith. But he was

surrounded by converts and neophytes,--by those of his own blood, who,

after practising all their lives the rites of paganism, were now first

admitted into the Christian fold. He listened to the teachings of the

missionary, learned from him to give implicit credit to the marvellous

legends of the Saints, and the no less marvellous accounts of his own

victories in his spiritual warfare for the propagation of the faith. Thus

early accustomed to such large drafts on his credulity, his reason lost its

heavenly power of distinguishing truth from error, and he became so

familiar with the miraculous, that the miraculous was no longer a

miracle.

Yet, while large deductions are to be made on this account from the

chronicler's reports, there is always a germ of truth which it is not

difficult to detect, and even to disengage from the fanciful covering

which envelopes it; and after every allowance for the exaggerations of

national vanity, we shall find an abundance of genuine information in

respect to the antiquities of his country, for which we shall look in vain

in any European writer.

Garcilasso's work is the reflection of the age in which he lived. It is

addressed to the imagination, more than to sober reason. We are dazzled

by the gorgeous spectacle it perpetually exhibits, and delighted by the

variety of amusing details and animated gossip sprinkled over its pages.

The story of the action is perpetually varied by discussions on topics

illustrating its progress, so as to break up the monotony of the narrative,

and afford an agreeable relief to the reader. This is true of the First Part

of his great work. In the Second there was no longer room for such

discussion. But he has supplied the place by garrulous reminiscences,

personal anecdotes, incidental adventures, and a host of trivial details,--

trivial in the eyes of the pedant,--which historians have been too willing

to discard, as below the dignity of history. We have the actors in this

great drama in their private dress, become acquainted with their personal

habits, listen to their familiar sayings, and, in short gather up those

minutiae which in the aggregate make up so much of life and not less of

character.

It is this confusion of the great and the little, thus artlessly blended

together, that constitutes one of the charms of the old romantic

chronicle,--not the less true that, in this respect, it approaches nearer to

the usual tone of romance. It is in such writings that we may look to find

the form and pressure of the age. The wormeaten state-papers, official

correspondence, public records, are all serviceable, indispensable, to

history. They are the framework on which it is to repose; the skeleton of

facts which gives it its strength and proportions. But they are as

worthless as the dry bones of the skeleton, unless clothed with the

beautiful form and garb of humanity, and instinct with the spirit of the

age.--Our debt is large to the antiquarian, who with conscientious

precision lays broad and deep the foundations of historic truth; and no

less to the philosophic annalist who exhibits man in the dress of public

life,--man in masquerade; but our gratitude must surely not be withheld

from those, who, like Garcilasso de la Vega, and many a romancer of the

Middle Ages, have held up the mirror--distorted though it may somewhat

be-to the interior of life, reflecting every object, the great and the mean

the beautiful and the deformed, with their natural prominence and their

vivacity of coloring, to the eye of the spectator. As a work of art, such a

production may be thought to be below criticism. But, although it defy

the rules of art in its composition, it does not necessarily violate the

principles of taste; for it conforms in its spirit to the spirit of the age in

which it was written. And the critic, who coldly condemns it on the

severe principles of art, will find a charm in its very simplicity, that will

make him recur again and again to its pages, while more correct and

classical compositions are laid aside and forgotten.

I cannot dismiss this notice of Garcilasso, though already long

protracted, without some allusion to the English translation of his

Commentaries. It appeared in James the Second's reign, and is the work

of Sir Paul Rycaut, Knight. It was printed at London in 1688, in folio,

with considerable pretension in its outward dress, well garnished with

wood-cuts, and a frontispiece displaying the gaunt and rather sardonic

features, not of the author, but his translator. The version keeps pace

with the march of the original, corresponding precisely in books and

chapters, and seldom, though sometimes, using the freedom, so common

in these ancient versions, of abridgment and omission. Where it does

depart from the original, it is rather from ignorance than intention.

Indeed, as far as the plea of ignorance will avail him, the worthy knight

may urge it stoutly in his defence. No one who reads the book will doubt

his limited acquaintance with his own tongue, and no one who compares

it with the original will deny his ignorance of the Castilian. It contains as

many blunders as paragraphs, and most of them such as might shame a

schoolboy. Yet such are the rude charms of the original, that this ruder

version of it has found considerable favor with readers; and Sir Paul

Rycaut's translation, old as it is, may still be met with in many a private,

as well as public library.

History of the Conquest of Peru

by William Hickling Prescott

Book 3

Chapter 1

Pizarro's Reception At Court--His Capitulation With The Crown -

He Visits His Birthplace--Returns To The New World-

Difficulties With Almagro--His Third Expedition-

Adventures On The Coast--Battles In The Isle Of Puna

1528--1531

Pizarro and his officer, having crossed the Isthmus, embarked at Nombre

de Dios for the old country, and, after a good passage, reached Seville

early in the summer of 1528. There happened to be at that time in port a

person well known in the history of Spanish adventure as the Bachelor

Enciso. He had taken an active part in the colonization of Tierra Firme,

and had a pecuniary claim against the early colonists of Darien, of whom

Pizarro was one. Immediately on the landing of the latter, he was seized

by Enciso's orders, and held in custody for the debt. Pizarro, who had

fled from his native land as a forlorn and houseless adventurer, after an

absence of more than twenty years, passed, most of them, in

unprecedented toil and suffering, now found himself on his return the

inmate of a prison. Such was the commencement of those brilliant

fortunes which, as he had trusted, awaited him at home. The

circumstance excited general indignation; and no sooner was the Court

advised of his arrival in the country, and the great purpose of his

mission, than orders were sent for his release, with permission to proceed

at once on his journey.

Pizarro found the emperor at Toledo, which he was soon to quit, in order

to embark for Italy. Spain was not the favorite residence of Charles the

Fifth, in the earlier part of his reign. He was now at that period of it

when he was enjoying the full flush of his triumphs over his gallant rival

of France, whom he had defeated and taken prisoner at the great battle of

Pavia; and the victor was at this moment preparing to pass into Italy to

receive the imperial crown from the hands of the Roman Pontiff. Elated

by his successes and his elevation to the German throne, Charles made

little account of his hereditary kingdom, as his ambition found so

splendid a career thrown open to it on the wide field of European

politics.

He had hitherto received too inconsiderable returns from his transatlantic

possessions to give them the attention they deserved. But, as the recent

acquisition of Mexico and the brilliant anticipations in respect to the

southern continent were pressed upon his notice, he felt their importance

as likely to afford him the means of prosecuting his ambitious and most

expensive enterprises.

Pizarro, therefore, who had now come to satisfy the royal eyes, by visible

proofs, of the truth of the golden rumors which, from time to time, had

reached Castile, was graciously received by the emperor. Charles

examined the various objects which his officer exhibited to him with

great attention. He was particularly interested by the appearance of the

llama, so remarkable as the only beast of burden yet known on the new

continent; and the fine fabrics of woollen cloth, which were made from

its shaggy sides, gave it a much higher value, in the eyes of the sagacious

monarch, than what it possessed as an animal for domestic labor. But

the specimens of gold and silver manufacture, and the wonderful tale

which Pizarro had to tell of the abundance of the precious metals, must

have satisfied even the cravings of royal cupidity.

Pizarro, far from being embarrassed by the novelty of his situation,

maintained his usual self-possession, and showed that decorum and even

dignity in his address which belong to the Castilian. He spoke in a

simple and respectful style, but with the earnestness and natural

eloquence of one who had been an actor in the scenes he described, and

who was conscious that the impression he made on his audience was to

decide his future destiny. All listened with eagerness to the account of

his strange adventures by sea and land, his wanderings in the forests, or

in the dismal and pestilent swamps on the sea-coast, without food, almost

without raiment, with feet torn and bleeding at every step, with his few

companions becoming still fewer by disease and death, and yet pressing

on with unconquerable spirit to extend the empire of Castile, and the

name and power of her sovereign; but when he painted his lonely

condition on the desolate island, abandoned by the government at home,

deserted by all but a handful of devoted followers, his royal auditor,

though not easily moved, was affected to tears. On his departure from

Toledo, Charles commended the affairs of his vassal in the most

favorable terms to the consideration of the Council of the Indies.1

There was at this time another man at court, who had come there on a

similar errand from the New World, but whose splendid achievements

had already won for him a name that threw the rising reputation of

Pizarro comparatively into the shade. This man was Hernando Cortes,

the Conqueror of Mexico. He had come home to lay an empire at the

feet of his sovereign, and to demand in return the redress of his wrongs,

and the recompense of his great services. He was at the close of his

career, as Pizarro was at the commencement of his; the Conqueror of the

North and of the South; the two men appointed by Providence to

overturn the most potent of the Indian dynasties, and to open the golden

gates by which the treasures of the New World were to pass into the

coffers of Spain.

Notwithstanding the emperor's recommendation, the business of Pizarro

went forward at the tardy pace with which affairs are usually conducted

in the court of Castile. He found his limited means gradually sinking

under the expenses incurred by his present situation, and he represented,

that, unless some measures were speedily taken in reference to his suit,

however favorable they might be in the end, he should be in no condition

to profit by them. The queen, accordingly, who had charge of the

business, on her husband's departure, expedited the affair, and on the

twenty sixth of July, 1529, she executed the memorable Capitulation,

which defined the powers and privileges of Pizarro.

The instrument secured to that chief the right of discovery and conquest

in the province of Peru, or New Castile,--as the country was then

called, in the same manner as Mexico had received the name of New

Spain,--for the distance of two hundred leagues south of Santiago. He

was to receive the titles and rank of Governor and Captain-General of

the province, together with those of Adelantado, and Alguacil Mayor, for

life; and he was to have a salary of seven hundred and twenty-five

thousand maravedis, with the obligation of maintaining certain officers

and military retainers, corresponding with the dignity of his station. He

was to have the right to erect certain fortresses, with the absolute

government of them; to assign encomiendas of Indians, under the

limitations prescribed by law; and, in fine, to exercise nearly all the

prerogatives incident to the authority of a viceroy.

His associate, Almagro, was declared commander of the fortress of

Tumbez, with an annual rent of three hundred thousand maravedis, and

with the further rank and privileges of an hidalgo. The reverend Father

Luque received the reward of his services in the Bishopric of Tumbez,

and he was also declared Protector of the Indians of Peru. He was to

enjoy the yearly stipend of a thousand ducats,--to be derived, like the

other salaries and gratuities in this instrument, from the revenues of the

conquered territory.

Nor were the subordinate actors in the expedition forgotten. Ruiz

received the title of Grand Pilot of the Southern Ocean, with a liberal

provision; Candia was placed at the head of the artillery; and the

remaining eleven companions on the desolate island were created

hidalgos and cavalleros, and raised to certain municipal dignities,--in

prospect.

Several provisions of a liberal tenor were also made, to encourage

emigration to the country. The new settlers were to be exempted from

some of the most onerous, but customary taxes, as the alcabala, or to be

subject to them only in a mitigated form. The tax on the precious metals

drawn from mines was to be reduced, at first, to one tenth, instead of the

fifth imposed on the same metals when obtained by barter or by rapine.

It was expressly enjoined on Pizarro to observe the existing regulations

for the good government and protection of the natives; and he was

required to carry out with him a specified number of ecclesiastics, with

whom he was to take counsel in the conquest of the country, and whose

efforts were to be dedicated to the service and conversion of the Indians;

while lawyers and attorneys, on the other hand, whose presence was

considered as boding ill to the harmony of the new settlements, were

strictly prohibited from setting foot in them.

Pizarro, on his part, was bound, in six months from the date of the

instrument, to raise a force, well equipped for the service, of two

hundred and fifty men, of whom one hundred might be drawn from the

colonies; and the government engaged to furnish some trifling assistance

in the purchase of artillery and military stores. Finally, he was to be

prepared, in six months after his return to Panama, to leave that port and

embark on his expedition.2

Such are some of the principal provisions of this Capitulation, by which

the Castilian government, with the sagacious policy which it usually

pursued on the like occasions, stimulated the ambitious hopes of the

adventurer by high-sounding titles, and liberal promises of reward

contingent on his success, but took care to stake nothing itself on the

issue of the enterprise. It was careful to reap the fruits of his toil, but not

to pay the cost of them.

A circumstance, that could not fail to be remarked in these provisions,

was the manner in which the high and lucrative posts were accumulated

on Pizarro, to the exclusion of Almagro, who, if he had not taken as

conspicuous a part in personal toil and exposure, had, at least, divided

with him the original burden of the enterprise, and, by his labors in

another direction, had contributed quite as essentially to its success.

Almagro had willingly conceded the post of honor to his confederate; but

it had been stipulated, on Pizarro's departure for Spain, that, while he

solicited the office of Governor and Captain-General for himself, he

should secure that of Adelantado for his companion. In like manner, he

had engaged to apply for the see of Tumbez for the vicar of Panama, and

the office of Alguacil Mayor for the pilot Ruiz. The bishopric took the

direction that was concerted, for the soldier could scarcely claim the

mitre of the prelate; but the other offices, instead of their appropriate

distribution, were all concentred in himself. Yet it was in reference to

his application for his friends, that Pizarro had promised on his departure

to deal fairly and honorably by them all.3

It is stated by the military chronicler, Pedro Pizarro, that his kinsman did,

in fact, urge the suit strongly in behalf of Almagro; but that he was

refused by the government, on the ground that offices of such paramount

importance could not be committed to different individuals. The ill

effects of such an arrangement had been long since felt in more than one

of the Indian colonies, where it had led to rivalry and fatal collision.4

Pizarro, therefore, finding his remonstrances unheeded, had no

alternative but to combine the offices in his own person, or to see the

expedition fall to the ground. This explanation of the affair has not

received the sanction of other contemporary historians. The

apprehensions expressed by Luque, at the time of Pizarro's assuming the

mission, of some such result as actually occurred, founded, doubtless, on

a knowledge of his associate's character, may warrant us in distrusting

the alleged vindication of his conduct, and our distrust will not be

diminished by familiarity with his subsequent career. Pizarro's virtue

was not of a kind to withstand temptation,--though of a much weaker sort

than that now thrown in his path.

The fortunate cavalier was also honored with the habit of St. Jago;5 and

he was authorized to make an important innovation in his family

escutcheon,--for by the father's side he might claim his armorial bearings.

The black eagle and the two pillars emblazoned on the royal arms were

incorporated with those of the Pizarros; and an Indian city, with a vessel

in the distance on the waters, and the llama of Peru, revealed the theatre

and the character of his exploits; while the legend announced, that

"under the auspices of Charles, and by the industry, the genius, and the

resources of Pizarro, the country had been discovered and reduced to

tranquillity,"---thus modestly intimating both the past and prospective

services of the Conqueror.6

These arrangements having been thus completed to Pizarro's satisfaction,

he left Toledo for Truxillo, his native place, in Estremadura, where he

thought he should be most likely to meet with adherents for his new

enterprise, and where it doubtless gratified his vanity to display himself

in the palmy, or at least promising, state of his present circumstances. If

vanity be ever pardonable, it is certainly in a man who, born in an

obscure station in life, without family, interest, or friends to back him,

has carved out his own fortunes in the world, and, by his own resources,

triumphed over all the obstacles which nature and accident had thrown in

his way. Such was the condition of Pizarro, as he now revisited the place

of his nativity, where he had hitherto been known only as a poor outcast,

without a home to shelter, a father to own him, or a friend to lean upon.

But he now found both friends and followers, and some who were eager

to claim kindred with him, and take part in his future fortunes. Among

these were four brothers. Three of them, like himself, were illegitimate;

one of whom, named Francisco Martin de Alcantara, was related to him

by the mother's side; the other two, named Gonzalo and Juan Pizarro,

were descended from the father. "They were all poor, and proud as they

were poor," says Oviedo, who had seen them; "and their eagerness for

gain was in proportion to their poverty." 7

The remaining and eldest brother, named Hernando, was a legitimate

son,--'legitimate," continues the same caustic authority, "by his pride, as

well as by his birth." His features were plain, even disagreeably so; but

his figure was good. He was large of stature, and, like his brother

Francis, had on the whole an imposing presence.8 In his character, he

combined some of the worst defects incident to the Castilian. He was

jealous in the extreme; impatient not merely of affront, but of the least

slight, and implacable in his resentment. He was decisive in his

measures, and unscrupulous in their execution. No touch of pity had

power to arrest his arm. His arrogance was such, that he was constantly

wounding the self-love of those with whom he acted; thus begetting an

ill-will which unnecessarily multiplied obstacles in his path. In this he

differed from his brother Francis, whose plausible manners smoothed

away difficulties, and conciliated confidence and cooperation in his

enterprises. Unfortunately, the evil counsels of Hernando exercised an

influence over his brother which more than compensated the advantages

derived from his singular capacity for business.

Notwithstanding the general interest which Pizarro's adventures excited

in his country, that chief did not find it easy to comply with the

provisions of the Capitulation in respect to the amount of his levies.

Those who were most astonished by his narrative were not always most

inclined to take part in his fortunes. They shrunk from the unparalleled

hardships which lay in the path of the adventurer in that direction; and

they listened with visible distrust to the gorgeous pictures of the golden

temples and gardens of Tumbez, which they looked upon as indebted in

some degree, at least, to the coloring of his fancy, with the obvious

purpose of attracting followers to his banner. It is even said that Pizarro

would have found it difficult to raise the necessary funds, but for the

seasonable aid of Cortes, a native of Estremadura like himself, his

companion in arms in early days, and, according to report, his kinsman.9

No one was in a better condition to hold out a helping hand to a brother

adventurer, and, probably, no one felt greater sympathy in Pizarro's

fortunes, or greater confidence in his eventual success, than the man who

had so lately trod the same career with renown.

The six months allowed by the Capitulation had elapsed, and Pizarro had

assembled somewhat less than his stipulated complement of men, with

which he was preparing to embark in a little squadron of three vessels at

Seville; but, before they were wholly ready, he received intelligence that

the officers of the Council of the Indies proposed to inquire into the

condition of the vessels, and ascertain how far the requisitions had been

complied with.

Without loss of time therefore, Pizarro afraid, if the facts were known,

that his enterprise might be nipped in the bud, slipped his cables, and

crossing the bar of San Lucar, in January, 1530, stood for the isle of

Gomera,--one of the Canaries,--where he ordered his brother Hernando,

who had charge of the remaining vessels, to meet him.

Scarcely had he gone, before the officers arrived to institute the search.

But when they objected the deficiency of men, they were easily--perhaps

willingly--deceived by the pretext that the remainder had gone forward in

the vessel with Pizarro. At all events, no further obstacles were thrown

in Hernando's way, and he was permitted, with the rest of the squadron,

to join his brother, according to agreement, at Gomera.

After a prosperous voyage, the adventurers reached the northern coast of

the great southern continent, and anchored off the port of Santa Marta.

Here they received such discouraging reports of the countries to which

they were bound, of forests teeming with insects and venomous serpents,

of huge alligators that swarmed on the banks of the streams, and of

hardships and perils such as their own fears had never painted, that

several of Pizarro's men deserted; and their leader, thinking it no longer

safe to abide in such treacherous quarters, set sail at once for Nombre de

Dios.

Soon after his arrival there, he was met by his two associates, Luque and

Almagro, who had crossed the mountains for the purpose of hearing

from his own lips the precise import of the capitulation with the Crown.

Great, as might have been expected, was Almagro's discontent at

learning the result of what he regarded as the perfidious machinations of

his associate. "Is it thus," he exclaimed, "that you have dealt with the

friend who shared equally with you in the trials, the dangers, and the cost

of the enterprise; and this, notwithstanding your solemn engagements on

your departure to provide for his interests as faithfully as your own?

How could you allow me to be thus dishonored in the eyes of the world

by so paltry a compensation, which seems to estimate my services as

nothing in comparison with your own?" 10

Pizarro, in reply, assured his companion that he had faithfully urged his

suit, but that the government refused to confide powers which intrenched

so closely on one another to different hands. He had no alternative, but

to accept all himself or to decline all; and he endeavored to mitigate

Almagro's displeasure by representing that the country was large enough

for the ambition of both, and that the powers conferred on himself were,

in fact, conferred on Almagro, since all that he had would ever be at his

friend's disposal, as if it were his own. But these honeyed words did not

satisfy the injured party; and the two captains soon after returned to

Panama with feelings of estrangement, if not hostility, towards one

another, which did not augur well for their enterprise.

Still, Almagro was of a generous temper, and might have been appeased

by the politic concessions of his rival, but for the interference of

Hernando Pizarro, who, from the first hour of their meeting, showed

little respect for the veteran, which, indeed, the diminutive person of the

latter was not calculated to inspire, and who now regarded him with

particular aversion as an impediment to the career of his brother.

Almagro's friends--and his frank and liberal manners had secured him

many--were no less disgusted than himself with the overbearing conduct

of this new ally. They loudly complained that it was quite enough to

suffer from the perfidy of Pizarro, without being exposed to the insults of

his family, who had now come over with him to fatten on the spoils of

conquest which belonged to their leader. The rupture soon proceeded to

such a length, that Almagro avowed his intention to prosecute the

expedition without further cooperation with his partner, and actually

entered into negotiations for the purchase of vessels for that object. But

Luque, and the Licentiate Espinosa, who had fortunately come over at

that time from St. Domingo, now interposed to repair a breach which

must end in the ruin of the enterprise, and the probable destruction of

those most interested in its success. By their mediation, a show of

reconciliation was at length effected between the parties, on Pizarro's

assurance that he would relinquish the dignity of Adelantado in favor of

his rival, and petition the emperor to confirm him in the possession of it;-

-an assurance, it may be remarked, not easy to reconcile with his former

assertion in respect to the avowed policy of the Crown in bestowing this

office. He was, moreover, to apply for a distinct government for his

associate, so soon as he had become master of the country assigned to

himself; and was to solicit no office for either of his own brothers, until

Almagro had been first provided for. Lastly, the former contract in

regard to the division of the spoil into three equal shares between the

three original associates was confirmed in the most explicit manner. The

reconciliation thus effected among the parties answered the temporary

purpose of enabling them to go forward in concert in the expedition. But

it was only a thin scar that had healed ever the wound, which, deep and

rankling within, waited only fresh cause of irritation to break out with a

virulence more fatal than ever.11

No time was now lost in preparing for the voyage. It found little

encouragement, however, among the colonists of Panama, who were too

familiar with the sufferings on the former expeditions to care to

undertake another, even with the rich bribe that was held out to allure

them. A few of the old company were content to follow out the

adventure to its close; and some additional stragglers were collected

from the province of Nicaragua,--a shoot, it may be remarked, from the

colony of Panama. But Pizarro made slender additions to the force

brought over with him from Spain, though this body was in better

condition, and, in respect to arms, ammunition, and equipment generally,

was on a much better footing than his former levies. The whole number

did not exceed one hundred and eighty men, with twenty-seven horses

for the cavalry. He had provided himself with three vessels, two of them

of a good size, to take the place of those which he had been compelled to

leave on the opposite side of the isthmus at Nombre de Dios; an

armament small for the conquest of an empire, and far short of that

prescribed by the capitulation with the Crown. With this the intrepid

chief proposed to commence operations, trusting to his own successes,

and the exertions of Almagro, who was to remain behind, for the present,

to muster reinforcements.12

On St. John the Evangelist's day, the banners of the company and the

royal standard were consecrated in the cathedral church of Panama; a

sermon was preached before the little army by Fray Juan de Vargas, one

of the Dominicans selected by the government for the Peruvian mission;

and mass was performed, and the sacrament administered to every

soldier previous to his engaging in the crusade against the infidel.13

Having thus solemnly invoked the blessing of Heaven on the enterprise,

Pizarro and his followers went on board their vessels, which rode at

anchor in the Bay of Panama, and early in January, 1531, sallied forth on

his third and last expedition for the conquest of Peru.

It was his intention to steer direct for Tumbez, which held out so

magnificent a show of treasure on his former voyage. But head winds

and currents, as usual, baffled his purpose, and after a run of thirteen

days, much shorter than the period formerly required for the same

distance, his little squadron came to anchor in the Bay of St. Matthew,

about one degree north; and Pizarro, after consulting with his officers,

resolved to disembark his forces and advance along the coast, while the

vessels, held their course at a convenient distance from the shore.

The march of the troops was severe and painful in the extreme; for the

road was constantly intersected by streams, which, swollen by the winter

rains, widened at their mouths into spacious estuaries. Pizarro, who had

some previous knowledge of the country, acted as guide as well as

commander of the expedition. He was ever ready to give aid where it

was needed, encouraging his followers to ford or swim the torrents as

they best could, and cheering the desponding by his own buoyant and

courageous spirit.

At length they reached a thick-settled hamlet, or rather town, in the

province of Coaque. The Spaniards rushed on the place, and the

inhabitants, without offering resistance, fled in terror to the neighboring

forests, leaving their effects--of much greater value than had been

anticipated--in the hands of the invaders. "We fell on them, sword in

hand," says one of the Conquerors, with some naivete; "for, if we had

advised the Indians of our approach, we should never have found there

such store of gold and precious stones." 14 The natives, however,

according to another authority, stayed voluntarily; "for, as they had done

no harm to the white men, they flattered themselves none would be

offered to them, but that there would be only an interchange of good

offices with the strangers," 15---an expectation founded, it may be, on

the good character which the Spaniards had established for themselves

on their preceding visit, but in which the simple people now found

themselves most unpleasantly deceived.

Rushing into the deserted dwellings, the invaders found there, besides

stuffs of various kinds, and food most welcome in their famished

condition, a large quantity of gold and silver wrought into clumsy

ornaments, together with many precious stones; for this was the region of

the esmeraldas, or emeralds, where that valuable gem was most

abundant. One of these jewels that fell into the hands of Pizarro, in this

neighborhood, was as large as a pigeon's egg. Unluckily, his rude

followers did not know the value of their prize; and they broke many of

them in pieces by pounding them with hammers.16 They were led to this

extraordinary proceeding, it is said, by one of the Dominican

missionaries, Fray Reginaldo de Pedraza, who assured them that this was

the way to prove the true emerald, which could not be broken. It was

observed that the good father did not subject his own jewels to this wise

experiment; but, as the stones, in consequence of it, fell in value, being

regarded merely as colored glass, he carried back a considerable store of

them to Panama.17

The gold and silver ornaments rifled from the dwellings were brought

together and deposited in a common heap; when a fifth was deducted for

the Crown, and Pizarro distributed the remainder in due proportions

among the officers and privates of his company. This was the usage

invariably observed on the like occasions throughout the Conquest. The

invaders had embarked in a common adventure. Their interest was

common, and to have allowed every one to plunder on his own account

would only have led to insubordination and perpetual broils. All were

required, therefore, on pain of death, to contribute whatever they

obtained, whether by bargain or by rapine, to the general stock; and all

were too much interested in the execution of the penalty to allow the

unhappy culprit, who violated the law, any chance of escape.18

Pizarro, with his usual policy, sent back to Panama a large quantity of

the gold, no less than twenty thousand castellanos in value, in the belief

that the sight of so much treasure, thus speedily acquired, would settle

the doubt of the wavering, and decide them on joining his banner.19 He

judged right. As one of the Conquerors piously expresses it, "It pleased

the Lord that we should fall in with the town of Coaque, that the riches of

the land might find credit with the people, and that they should flock to

it." 20

Pizarro, having refreshed his men, continued his march along the coast,

but no longer accompanied by the vessels, which had returned for

recruits to Panama. The road, as he advanced, was checkered with strips

of sandy waste, which, drifted about by the winds, blinded the soldiers,

and afforded only treacherous footing for man and beast. The glare was

intense; and the rays of a vertical sun beat fiercely on the iron mail and

the thick quilted doublets of cotton, till the fainting troops were almost

suffocated with the heat. To add to their distresses, a strange epidemic

broke out in the little army. It took the form of ulcers, or rather hideous

warts of great size, which covered the body, and when lanced, as was the

case with some, discharged such a quantity of blood as proved fatal to

the sufferer. Several died of this frightful disorder, which was so sudden

in its attack, and attended with such prostration of strength, that those

who lay down well at night were unable to lift their hands to their heads

in the morning.21 The epidemic, which made its first appearance during

this invasion, and which did not long survive it, spread over the country,

sparing neither native nor white man.22 It was one of those plagues

from the vial of wrath, which the destroying angel, who follows in the

path of the conqueror, pours out on the devoted nations.

The Spaniards rarely experienced on their march either resistance or

annoyance from the inhabitants, who, instructed by the example of

Coaque, fled with their effects into the woods and neighboring

mountains. No one came out to welcome the strangers and offer the rites

of hospitality, as on their last visit to the land. For the white men were

no longer regarded as good beings that had come from heaven, but as

ruthless destroyers, who, invulnerable to the assaults of the Indians, were

borne along on the backs of fierce animals, swifter than the wind, with

weapons in their hands, that scattered fire and desolation as they went.

Such were the stories now circulated of the invaders, which, preceding

them everywhere on their march, closed the hearts, if not the doors, of

the natives against them. Exhausted by the fatigue of travel and by

disease, and grievously disappointed at the poverty of the land, which

now offered no compensation for their toils, the soldiers of Pizarro

cursed the hour in which they had enlisted under his standard, and the

men of Nicaragua, in particular, says the old chronicler, calling to mind

their pleasant quarters in their luxurious land, sighed only to return to

their Mahometan paradise.23

At this juncture the army was gladdened by the sight of a vessel from

Panama, which brought some supplies, together with the royal treasurer,

the veedor or inspector, the comptroller, and other high officers

appointed by the Crown to attend the expedition. They had been left in

Spain by Pizarro, in consequence of his abrupt departure from the

country; and the Council of the Indies, on learning the circumstance, had

sent instructions to Panama to prevent the sailing of his squadron from

that port. But the Spanish government, with more wisdom,

countermanded the order, only requiring the functionaries to quicken

their own departure, and take their place without loss of time in the

expedition.

The Spaniards in their march along the coast had now advanced as far as

Puerto Viejo. Here they were soon after joined by another small

reinforcement of about thirty men, under an officer named Belalcazar,

who subsequently rose to high distinction in this service. Many of the

followers of Pizarro would now have halted at this spot and established a

colony there. But that chief thought more of conquering than of

colonizing, at least for the present; and he proposed, as his first step, to

get possession of Tumbez, which he regarded as the gate of the Peruvian

empire. Continuing his march, therefore, to the shores of what is now

called the Gulf of Guayaquil, he arrived off the little island of Puna,

lying at no great distance from the Bay of Tumbez. This island, he

thought, would afford him a convenient place to encamp until he was

prepared to make his descent on the Indian city.

The dispositions of the islanders seemed to favor his purpose. He had

not been long in their neighborhood, before a deputation of the natives,

with their cacique at their head, crossed over in their balsas to the main

land to welcome the Spaniards to their residence. But the Indian

interpreters of Tumbez, who had returned with Pizarro from Spain, and

continued with the camp, put their master on his guard against the

meditated treachery of the islanders, whom they accused of designing to

destroy the Spaniards by cutting the ropes that held together the floats,

and leaving those upon them to perish in the waters. Yet the cacique,

when charged by Pizarro with this perfidious scheme, denied it with such

an air of conscious innocence, that the Spanish commander trusted

himself and his followers, without further hesitation, to his conveyance,

and was transported in safety to the shores of Puna.

Here he was received in a hospitable manner, and his troops were

provided with comfortable quarters. Well satisfied with his present

position, Pizarro resolved to occupy it until the violence of the rainy

season was passed, when the arrival of the reinforcements he expected

would put him in better condition for marching into the country of the

Inca.

The island, which lies in the mouth of the river of Guayaquil, and is

about eight leagues in length by four in breadth, at the widest part, was at

that time partially covered with a noble growth of timber. But a large

portion of it was subjected to cultivation, and bloomed with plantations

of cacao, of the sweet potato, and the different products of a tropical

climes evincing agricultural knowledge as well as industry in the

population. They were a warlike race; but had received from their

Peruvian foes the appellation of "perfidious." It was the brand fastened

by the Roman historians on their Carthaginian enemies,--with perhaps no

better reason. The bold and independent islanders opposed a stubborn

resistance to the arms of the Incas; and, though they had finally yielded,

they had been ever since at feud, and often in deadly hostility, with their

neighbors of Tumbez.

The latter no sooner heard of Pizarro's arrival on the island than, trusting,

probably, to their former friendly relations with him, they came over in

some number to the Spanish quarters. The presence of their detested

rivals was by no means grateful to the jealous inhabitants of Puna, and

the prolonged residence of the white men on their island could not be

otherwise than burdensome. In their outward demeanor they still

maintained the same show of amity; but Pizarro's interpreters again put

him on his guard against the proverbial perfidy of their hosts. With his

suspicions thus roused, the Spanish commander was informed that a

number of the chiefs had met together to deliberate on a plan of

insurrection. Not caring to wait for the springing of the mine, he

surrounded the place of meeting with his soldiers and made prisoners of

the suspected chieftains. According to one authority, they confessed

their guilt.24 This is by no means certain. Nor is it certain that they

meditated an insurrection. Yet the fact is not improbable, in itself;

though it derives little additional probability from the assertion of the

hostile interpreters. It is certain, however, that Pizarro was satisfied of

the existence of a conspiracy; and, without further hesitation, he

abandoned his wretched prisoners, ten or twelve in number, to the tender

mercies of their rivals of Tumbez, who instantly massacred them before

his eyes.25

Maddened by this outrage, the people of Puna sprang to arms, and threw

themselves at once, with fearful yells and the wildest menaces of despair,

on the Spanish camp. The odds of numbers were greatly in their favor,

for they mustered several thousand warriors. But the more decisive odds

of arms and discipline were on the side of their antagonists; and, as the

Indians rushed forward in a confused mass to the assault, the Castilians

coolly received them on their long pikes, or swept them down by the

volleys of their musketry. Their ill-protected bodies were easily cut to

pieces by the sharp sword of the Spaniard; and Hernando Pizarro, putting

himself at the head of the cavalry, charged boldly into the midst, and

scattered them far and wide over the field, until, panic-struck by the

terrible array of steel-clad horsemen, and the stunning reports and the

flash of fire-arms, the fugitives sought shelter in the depths of their

forests. Yet the victory was owing, in some degree, at least,--if we may

credit the Conquerors,--to the interposition of Heaven; for St. Michael

and his legions were seen high in the air above the combatants,

contending with the arch-enemy of man, and cheering on the Christians

by their example! 26

Not more than three or four Spaniards fell in the fight; but many were

wounded, and among them Hernando Pizarro, who received a severe

injury in the leg from a javelin. Nor did the war end here; for the

implacable islanders, taking advantage of the cover of night, or of any

remissness on the part of the invaders, were ever ready to steal out of

their fastnesses and spring on their enemy's camp, while, by cutting off

his straggling parties, and destroying his provisions, they kept him in

perpetual alarm.

In this uncomfortable situation, the Spanish commander was gladdened

by the appearance of two vessels off the island. They brought a

reinforcement consisting of a hundred volunteers besides horses for the

cavalry. It was commanded by Hernando de Soto, a captain afterwards

famous as the discoverer of the Mississippi, which still rolls its majestic

current over the place of his burial,--a fitting monument for his remains,

as it is of his renown.27

The reinforcement was most welcome to Pizarro, who had been long

discontented with his position on an island, where he found nothing to

compensate the life of unintermitting hostility which he was compelled to

lead. With these recruits, he felt himself in sufficient strength to cross

over to the continent, and resume military operations in the proper

theatre for discovery and conquest. From the Indians of Tumbez he

learned that the country had been for some time distracted by a civil war

between two sons of the late monarch, competitors for the throne. This

intelligence he regarded as of the utmost importance, for he remembered

the use which Cortes had made of similar dissensions among the tribes of

Anahuac. Indeed, Pizarro seems to have had the example of his great

predecessor before his eyes on more occasions than this. But he fell far

short of his model; for, notwithstanding the restraint he sometimes put

upon himself, his coarser nature and more ferocious temper often

betrayed him into acts most repugnant to sound policy, which would

never have been countenanced by the Conqueror of Mexico.

Book 3

Chapter 2

Peru At The Time Of The Conquest--Reign Of Huayna Capac-

The Inca Brothers--Conquest For The Empire-

Triumph And Cruelties Of Atahuallpa

Before accompanying the march of Pizarro and his followers into the

country of the Incas, it is necessary to make the reader acquainted with

the critical situation of the kingdom at that time. For the Spaniards

arrived just at the consummation of an important revolution,--at a crisis

most favorable to their views of conquest, and but for which, indeed, the

conquest, with such a handful of soldiers, could never have been

achieved.

In the latter part of the fifteenth century died Tupac Inca Yupanqui, one

of the most renowned of the "Children of the Sun," who, carrying the

Peruvian arms across the burning sands of Atacama, penetrated to the

remote borders of Chili, while in the opposite direction he enlarged the

limits of the empire by the acquisition of the southern provinces of

Quito. The war in this quarter was conducted by his son Huayna Capac,

who succeeded his father on the throne, and fully equalled him in

military daring and in capacity for government.

Under this prince, the whole of the powerful state of Quito, which

rivalled that of Peru itself in wealth and refinement, was brought under

the sceptre of the Incas; whose empire received, by this conquest, the

most important accession yet made to it since the foundation of the

dynasty of Manco Capac. The remaining days of the victorious monarch

were passed in reducing the independent tribes on the remote limits of

his territory, and, still more, in cementing his conquests by the

introduction of the Peruvian polity. He was actively engaged in

completing the great works of his father, especially the high-roads which

led from Quito to the capital. He perfected the establishment of posts,

took great pains to introduce the Quichua dialect throughout the empire,

promoted a better system of agriculture, and, in fine, encouraged the

different branches of domestic industry and the various enlightened plans

of his predecessors for the improvement of his people. Under his sway,

the Peruvian monarchy reached its most palmy state; and under both him

and his illustrious father it was advancing with such rapid strides in the

march of civilization as would soon have carried it to a level with the

more refined despotisms of Asia, furnishing the world, perhaps, with

higher evidence of the capabilities of the American Indian than is

elsewhere to be found on the great western continent.--But other and

gloomier destinies were in reserve for the Indian races.

The first arrival of the white men on the South American shores of the

Pacific was about ten years before the death of Huayna Capac, when

Balboa crossed the Gulf of St. Michael, and obtained the first clear

report of the empire of the Incas. Whether tidings of these adventurers

reached the Indian monarch's ears is doubtful. There is no doubt,

however, that he obtained the news of the first expedition under Pizarro

and Almagro, when the latter commander penetrated as far as the Rio de

San Juan, about the fourth degree north. The accounts which he received

made a strong impression on the mind of Huayna Capac. He discerned

in the formidable prowess and weapons of the invaders proofs of a

civilization far superior to that of his own people. He intimated his

apprehension that they would return, and that at some day, not far

distant, perhaps, the throne of the Incas might be shaken by these

strangers, endowed with such incomprehensible powers.1 To the vulgar

eye, it was a little speck on the verge of the horizon; but that of the

sagacious monarch seemed to descry in it the dark thunder-cloud, that

was to spread wider and wider till it burst in fury on his nation!

There is some ground for believing thus much. But other accounts,

which have obtained a popular currency, not content with this, connect

the first tidings of the white men with predictions long extant in the

country, and with supernatural appearances, which filled the hearts of the

whole nation with dismay. Comets were seen flaming athwart the

heavens. Earthquakes shook the land; the moon was girdled with rings

of fire of many colors; a thunderbolt fell on one of the royal palaces and

consumed it to ashes; and an eagle, chased by several hawks, was seen,

screaming in the air, to hover above the great square of Cuzco, when,

pierced by the talons of his tormentors, the king of birds fell lifeless in

the presence of many of the Inca nobles, who read in this an augury of

their own destruction! Huayna Capac himself, calling his great officers

around him, as he found he was drawing near his end, announced the

subversion of his empire by the race of white and bearded strangers, as

the consummation predicted by the oracles after the reign of the twelfth

Inca, and he enjoined it on his vassals not to resist the decrees of

Heaven, but to yield obedience to its messengers.2

Such is the report of the impressions made by the appearance of the

Spaniards in the country, reminding one of the similar feelings of

superstitious terror occasioned by their appearance in Mexico. But the

traditions of the latter land rest on much higher authority than those of

the Peruvians, which, unsupported by contemporary testimony, rest

almost wholly on the naked assertion of one of their own nation, who

thought to find, doubtless, in the inevitable decrees of Heaven, the best

apology for the supineness of his countrymen.

It is not improbable that rumors of the advent of a strange and

mysterious race should have spread gradually among the Indian tribes

along the great table-land of the Cordilleras, and should have shaken the

hearts of the stoutest warriors with feelings of undefined dread, as of

some impending calamity. In this state of mind, it was natural that

physical convulsions, to which that volcanic country is peculiarly

subject, should have made an unwonted impression on their minds; and

that the phenomena, which might have been regarded only as

extraordinary, in the usual seasons of political security, should now be

interpreted by the superstitious soothsayer as the handwriting on the

heavens, by which the God of the Incas proclaimed the approaching

downfall of their empire.

Huayna Capac had, as usual with the Peruvian princes, a multitude of

concubines, by whom he left a numerous posterity. The heir to the

crown, the son of his lawful wife and sister, was named Huascar.3 At the

period of the history at which we are now arrived, he was about thirty

years of age. Next to the heir-apparent, by another wife, a cousin of the

monarch's, came Manco Capac, a young prince who will occupy an

important place in our subsequent story. But the best-beloved of the

Inca's children was Atahuallpa. His mother was the daughter of the last

Scyri of Quito, who had died of grief, it was said, not long after the

subversion of his kingdom by Huayna Capac. The princess was

beautiful, and the Inca, whether to gratify his passion, or, as the

Peruvians say, willing to make amends for the ruin of her parents,

received her among his concubines. The historians of Quito assert that

she was his lawful wife; but this dignity, according to the usages of the

empire, was reserved for maidens of the Inca blood.

The latter years of Huayna Capac were passed in his new kingdom of

Quito. Atahuallpa was accordingly brought up under his own eye,

accompanied him, while in his tender years, in his campaigns, slept in

the same tent with his royal father, and ate from the same plate.4 The

vivacity of the boy, his courage and generous nature, won the affections

of the old monarch to such a degree, that he resolved to depart from the

established usages of the realm, and divide his empire between him and

his elder brother Huascar. On his death-bed, he called the great officers

of the crown around him, and declared it to be his will that the ancient

kingdom of Quito should pass to Atahuallpa, who might be considered as

having a natural claim on it, as the dominion of his ancestors. The rest

of the empire he settled on Huascar; and he enjoined it on the two

brothers to acquiesce in this arrangement, and to live in amity with each

other. This was the last act of the heroic monarch; doubtless, the most

impolitic of his whole life. With his dying breath he subverted the

fundamental laws of the empire; and, while he recommended harmony

between the successors to his authority, he left in this very division of it

the seeds of inevitable discord.5

His death took place, as seems probable, at the close of 1525, not quite

seven years before Pizarro's arrival at Puna.6 The tidings of his decease

spread sorrow and consternation throughout the land; for, though stern

and even inexorable to the rebel and the long-resisting foe, he was a

brave and magnanimous monarch, and legislated with the enlarged views

of a prince who regarded every part of his dominions as equally his

concern. The people of Quito, flattered by the proofs which he had

given of preference for them by his permanent residence in that country,

and his embellishment of their capital, manifested unfeigned sorrow at

his loss; and his subjects at Cuzco, proud of the glory which his arms and

his abilities had secured for his native land, held him in no less

admiration;7 while the more thoughtful and the more timid, in both

countries, looked with apprehension to the future, when the sceptre of

the vast empire, instead of being swayed by an old and experienced

hand, was to be consigned to rival princes, naturally jealous of one

another, and, from their age, necessarily exposed to the unwholesome

influence of crafty and ambitious counsellors. The people testified their

regret by the unwonted honors paid to the memory of the deceased Inca.

His heart was retained in Quito, and his body, embalmed after the

fashion of the country, was transported to Cuzco, to take its place in the

great temple of the Sun, by the side of the remains of his royal ancestors.

His obsequies were celebrated with sanguinary splendor in both the

capitals of his far-extended empire; and several thousand of the imperial

concubines, with numerous pages and officers of the palace, are said to

have proved their sorrow, or their superstition, by offering up their own

lives, that they might accompany their departed lord to the bright

mansions of the Sun.8

For nearly five years after the death of Huayna Capac, the royal brothers

reigned, each over his allotted portion of the empire, without distrust of

one another, or, at least, without collision. It seemed as if the wish of

their father was to be completely realized, and that the two states were to

maintain their respective integrity and independence as much as if they

had never been united into one. But, with the manifold causes for

jealousy and discontent, and the swarms of courtly sycophants, who

would find their account in fomenting these feelings, it was easy to see

that this tranquil state of things could not long endure. Nor would it

have endured so long, but for the more gentle temper of Huascar, the

only party who had ground for complaint. He was four or five years

older than his brother, and was possessed of courage not to be doubted;

but he was a prince of a generous and easy nature, and perhaps, if left to

himself, might have acquiesced in an arrangement which, however

unpalatable, was the will of his deified father. But Atahuallpa was of a

different temper. Warlike, ambitious, and daring, he was constantly

engaged in enterprises for the enlargement of his own territory, though

his crafty policy was scrupulous not to aim at extending his acquisitions

in the direction of his royal brother. His restless spirit, however, excited

some alarm at the court of Cuzco, and Huascar, at length, sent an envoy

to Atahuallpa, to remonstrate with him on his ambitious enterprises, and

to require him to render him homage for his kingdom of Quito.

This is one statement. Other accounts pretend that the immediate cause

of rupture was a claim instituted by Huascar for the territory of

Tumebamba, held by his brother as part of his patrimonial inheritance. It

matters little what was the ostensible ground of collision between

persons placed by circumstances in so false a position in regard to one

another, that collision must, at some time or other, inevitably occur.

The commencement, and, indeed, the whole course, of hostilities which

soon broke out between the rival brothers are stated with irreconcilable,

and, considering the period was so near to that of the Spanish invasion,

with unaccountable discrepancy. By some it is said, that, in Atahuallpa's

first encounter with the troops of Cuzco, he was defeated and made

prisoner near Tumebamba, a favorite residence of his father in the

ancient territory of Quito, and in the district of Canaris. From this

disaster he recovered by a fortunate escape from confinement, when,

regaining his capital, he soon found himself at the head of a numerous

army, led by the most able and experienced captains in the empire. The

liberal manners of the young Atahuallpa had endeared him to the

soldiers, with whom, as we have seen, he served more than one campaign

in his father's lifetime. These troops were the flower of the great army of

the Inca, and some of them had grown gray in his long military career,

which had left them at the north, where they readily transferred their

allegiance to the young sovereign of Quito. They were commanded by

two officers of great consideration, both possessed of large experience in

military affairs, and high in the confidence of the late Inca. One of them

was named Quizquiz; the other, who was the maternal uncle of

Atahuallpa, was called Chalicuchima.

With these practised warriors to guide him, the young monarch put

himself at the head of his martial array, and directed his march towards

the south. He had not advanced farther than Ambato, about sixty miles

distant from his capital, when he fell in with a numerous host, which had

been sent against him by his brother, under the command of a

distinguished chieftain, of the Inca family. A bloody battle followed,

which lasted the greater part of the day; and the theatre of combat was

the skirts of the mighty Chimborazo.9

The battle ended favorably for Atahuallpa, and the Peruvians were

routed with great slaughter, and the loss of their commander. The prince

of Quito availed himself of his advantage to push forward his march until

he arrived before the gates of Tumebamba, which city, as well as the

whole district of Canaris, though an ancient dependency of Quito, had

sided with his rival in the contest. Entering the captive city like a

conqueror, he put the inhabitants to the sword, and razed it with all its

stately edifices, some of which had been reared by his own father, to the

ground. He carried on the same war of extermination, as he marched

through the offending district of Canaris. In some places, it is said, the

women and children came out, with green branches in their hands, in

melancholy procession, to deprecate his wrath; but the vindictive

conqueror, deaf to their entreaties, laid the country waste with fire and

sword, sparing no man capable of bearing arms who fell into his

hands.10

The fate of Canaris struck terror into the hearts of his enemies, and one

place after another opened its gates to the victor, who held on his

triumphant march towards the Peruvian capital. His arms experienced a

temporary check before the island of Puna, whose bold warriors

maintained the cause of his brother. After some days lost before this

place, Atahuallpa left the contest to their old enemies, the people of

Tumbez, who had early given in their adhesion to him, while he resumed

his march and advanced as far as Caxamalca, about seven degrees south.

Here he halted with a detachment of the army, sending forward the main

body under the command of his two generals, with orders to move

straight upon Cuzco. He preferred not to trust himself farther in the

enemy's country, where a defeat might be fatal. By establishing his

quarters at Caxamalca, he would be able to support his generals, in case

of a reverse, or, at worst, to secure his retreat on Quito, until he was

again in condition to renew hostilities.

The two commanders, advancing by rapid marches, at length crossed the

Apurimac river, and arrived within a short distance of the Peruvian

capital.--Meanwhile, Huascar had not been idle. On receiving tidings of

the discomfiture of his army at Ambato, he made every exertion to raise

levies throughout the country. By the advice, it is said, of his priests--the

most incompetent advisers in times of danger--he chose to await the

approach of the enemy in his own capital; and it was not till the latter had

arrived within a few leagues of Cuzco, that the Inca, taking counsel of

the same ghostly monitors, sallied forth to give him battle.

The two armies met on the plains of Quipaypan, in the neighborhood of

the Indian metropolis. Their numbers are stated with the usual

discrepancy; but Atahuallpa's troops had considerably the advantage in

discipline and experience, for many of Huascar's levies had been drawn

hastily together from the surrounding country. Both fought, however,

with the desperation of men who felt that every thing was at stake. It was

no longer a contest for a province, but for the possession of an empire.

Atahuallpa's troops, flushed with recent success, fought with the

confidence of those who relied on their superior prowess; while the loyal

vassals of the Inca displayed all the self-devotion of men who held their

own lives cheap in the service of their master.

The fight raged with the greatest obstinacy from sunrise to sunset; and

the ground was covered with heaps of the dying and the dead, whose

bones lay bleaching on the battle-field long after the conquest by the

Spaniards. At length, fortune declared in favor of Atahuallpa; or rather,

the usual result of superior discipline and military practice followed.

The ranks of the Inca were thrown into irretrievable disorder, and gave

way in all directions. The conquerors followed close on the heels of the

flying. Huascar himself, among the latter, endeavored to make his

escape with about a thousand men who remained round his person. But

the royal fugitive was discovered before he had left the field; his little

party was enveloped by clouds of the enemy, and nearly every one of the

devoted band perished in defence of their Inca. Huascar was made

prisoner, and the victorious chiefs marched at once on his capital, which

they occupied in the name of their sovereign.11

These events occurred in the spring of 1532, a few months before the

landing of the Spaniards. The tidings of the success of his arms and the

capture of his unfortunate brother reached Atahuallpa at Caxamalca. He

instantly gave orders that Huascar should be treated with the respect due

to his rank, but that he should be removed to the strong fortress of

Xauxa, and held there in strict confinement. His orders did not stop

here,--if we are to receive the accounts of Garcilasso de la Vega, himself

of the Inca race, and by his mother's side nephew of the great Huayna

Capac.

According to this authority, Atahuallpa invited the Inca nobles

throughout the country to assemble at Cuzco in order to deliberate on the

best means of partitioning the empire between him and his brother.

When they had met in the capital, they were surrounded by the soldiery

of Quito, and butchered without mercy. The motive for this perfidious

act was to exterminate the whole of the royal family, who might each one

of them show a better title to the crown than the illegitimate Atahuallpa.

But the massacre did not end here. The illegitimate offspring, like

himself, half-brothers of the monster, all, in short, who had any of the

Inca blood in their veins, were involved in it; and with an appetite for

carnage unparalleled in the annals of the Roman Empire or of the French

Republic, Atahuallpa ordered all the females of the blood royal, his

aunts, nieces, and cousins, to be put to death, and that, too, with the most

refined and lingering tortures. To give greater zest to his revenge, many

of the executions took place in the presence of Huascar himself, who was

thus compelled to witness the butchery of his own wives and sisters,

while, in the extremity of anguish, they in vain called on him to protect

them! 12

Such is the tale told by the historian of the Incas, and received by him, as

he assures us, from his mother and uncle, who, being children at the

time, were so fortunate as to be among the few that escaped the massacre

of their house.13 And such is the account repeated by many a Castilian

writer since, without any symptom of distrust. But a tissue of

unprovoked atrocities like these is too repugnant to the principles of

human nature,--and, indeed, to common sense, to warrant our belief in

them on ordinary testimony.

The annals of semi-civilized nations unhappily show that there have been

instances of similar attempts to extinguish the whole of a noxious race,

which had become the object of a tyrant's jealousy; though such an

attempt is about as chimerical as it would be to extirpate any particular

species of plant, the seeds of which had been borne on every wind over

the country. But, if the attempt to exterminate the Inca race was actually

made by Atahuallpa, how comes it that so many of the pure descendants

of the blood royal--nearly six hundred in number--are admitted by the

historian to have been in existence seventy years after the imputed

massacre?14 Why was the massacre, instead of being limited to the

legitimate members of the royal stock, who could show a better title to

the crown than the usurper, extended to all, however remotely, or in

whatever way, connected with the race? Why were aged women and

young maidens involved in the proscription, and why were they

subjected to such refined and superfluous tortures, when it is obvious

that beings so impotent could have done nothing to provoke the jealousy

of the tyrant? Why, when so many were sacrificed from some vague

apprehension of distant danger, was his rival Huascar, together with his

younger brother Manco Capac, the two men from whom the conqueror

had most to fear, suffered to live? Why, in short, is the wonderful tale

not recorded by others before the time of Garcilasso, and nearer by half a

century to the events themselves?15

That Atahuallpa may have been guilty of excesses, and abused the rights

of conquest by some gratuitous acts of cruelty, may be readily believed;

for no one, who calls to mind his treatment of the Canaris,-which his own

apologists do not affect to deny,16--will doubt that he had a full measure

of the vindictive temper which belongs to

"Those souls of fire, and Children of the Sun,

With whom revenge was virtue."

But there is a wide difference between this and the monstrous and most

unprovoked atrocities imputed to him; implying a diabolical nature not to

be admitted on the evidence of an Indian partisan, the sworn foe of his

house, and repeated by Castilian chroniclers, who may naturally seek, by

blazoning the enormities of Atahuallpa, to find some apology for the

cruelty of their countrymen towards him.

The news of the great victory was borne on the wings of the wind to

Caxamalca; and loud and long was the rejoicing, not only in the camp of

Atahuallpa, but in the town and surrounding country; for all now came

in, eager to offer their congratulations to the victor, and do him homage.

The prince of Quito no longer hesitated to assume the scarlet borla, the

diadem of the Incas. His triumph was complete. He had beaten his

enemies on their own ground; had taken their capital; had set his foot on

the neck of his rival, and won for himself the ancient sceptre of the

Children of the Sun. But the hour of triumph was destined to be that of

his deepest humiliation. Atahuallpa was not one of those to whom, in the

language of the Grecian bard, "the Gods are willing to reveal

themselves." 17 He had not read the handwriting on the heavens. The

small speck, which the clear-sighted eye of his father had discerned on

the distant verge of the horizon, though little noticed by Atahuallpa,

intent on the deadly strife with his brother, had now risen high towards

the zenith, spreading wider and wider, till it wrapped the skies in

darkness, and was ready to burst in thunders on the devoted nation.

Book3

Chapter 3

The Spaniards Land At Tumbez--Pizarro Reconnoitres The Country--

Foundation Of San Miguel--March Into The Interior-

Embassy From The Inca--Adventures On The March-

Reach The Foot Of The Andes

1532

We left the Spaniards at the island of Puna, preparing to make their

descent on the neighboring continent at Tumbez. This port was but a

few leagues distant, and Pizarro, with the greater part of his followers,

passed over in the ships, while a few others were to transport the

commander's baggage and the military stores on some of the Indian

balsas. One of the latter vessels which first touched the shore was

surrounded, and three persons who were on the raft were carried off by

the natives to the adjacent woods and there massacred. The Indians then

got possession of another of the balsas containing Pizarro's wardrobe;

but, as the men who defended it raised loud cries for help, they reached

the ears of Hernando Pizarro, who, with a small body of horse, had

effected a landing some way farther down the shore. A broad tract of

miry ground, overflowed at high water, lay between him and the party

thus rudely assailed by the natives. The tide was out, and the bottom was

soft and dangerous. With little regard to the danger, however, the bold

cavalier spurred his horse into the slimy depths, and followed by his

men, with the mud up to their saddle-girths, they plunged forward until

they came into the midst of the marauders, who, terrified by the strange

apparition of the horsemen, fled precipitately, without show of fight, to

the neighboring forests.

This conduct of the natives of Tumbez is not easy to be explained;

considering the friendly relations maintained with the Spaniards on their

preceding visit, and lately renewed in the island of Puna. But Pizarro

was still more astonished, on entering their town, to find it not only

deserted, but, with the exception of a few buildings, entirely demolished.

Four or five of the most substantial private dwellings, the great temple,

and the fortress--and these greatly damaged, and wholly despoiled of

their interior decorations--alone survived to mark the site of the city, and

attest its former splendor.1 The scene of desolation filled the conquerors

with dismay; for even the raw recruits, who had never visited the coast

before, had heard the marvellous stories of the golden treasures of

Tumbez, and they had confidently looked forward to them as an easy

spoil after all their fatigues. But the gold of Peru seemed only like a

deceitful phantom, which, after beckoning them on through toil and

danger, vanished the moment they attempted to grasp it.

Pizarro despatched a small body of troops in pursuit of the fugitives;

and, after some slight skirmishing, they got possession of several of the

natives, and among them, as it chanced, the curaca of the place. When

brought before the Spanish commander, he exonerated himself from any

share in the violence offered to the white men, saying that it was done by

a lawless party of his people, without his knowledge at the time; and he

expressed his willingness to deliver them up to punishment, if they could

be detected. He explained the dilapidated condition of the town by the

long wars carried on with the fierce tribes of Puna, who had at length

succeeded in getting possession of the place, and driving the inhabitants

into the neighboring woods and mountains. The Inca, to whose cause

they were attached, was too much occupied with his own feuds to protect

them against their enemies.

Whether Pizarro gave any credit to the cacique's exculpation of himself

may be doubted. He dissembled his suspicions, however, and, as the

Indian lord promised obedience in his own name, and that of his vassals,

the Spanish general consented to take no further notice of the affair. He

seems now to have felt for the first time, in its full force, that it was his

policy to gain the good-will of the people among whom he had thrown

himself in the face of such tremendous odds. It was, perhaps, the

excesses of which his men had been guilty in the earlier stages of the

expedition that had shaken the confidence of the people of Tumbez, and

incited them to this treacherous retaliation.

Pizarro inquired of the natives who now, under promise of impunity,

came into the camp, what had become of his two followers that remained

with them in the former expedition. The answers they gave were obscure

and contradictory. Some said, they had died of an epidemic; others, that

they had perished in the war with Puna; and others intimated, that they

had lost their lives in consequence of some outrage attempted on the

Indian women. It was impossible to arrive at the truth. The last account

was not the least probable. But, whatever might be the cause, there was

no doubt they had both perished.

This intelligence spread an additional gloom over the Spaniards; which

was not dispelled by the flaming pictures now given by the natives of the

riches of the land, and of the state and magnificence of the monarch in

his distant capital among the mountains. Nor did they credit the

authenticity of a scroll of paper, which Pizzaro had obtained from an

Indian, to whom it had been delivered by one of the white men left in the

country. "Know, whoever you may be," said the writing, "that may

chance to set foot in this country, that it contains more gold and silver

than there is iron in Biscay." This paper, when shown to the soldiers,

excited only their ridicule, as a device of their captain to keep alive their

chimerical hopes.2

Pizarro now saw that it was not politic to protract his stay in his present

quarters, where a spirit of disaffection would soon creep into the ranks of

his followers, unless their spirits were stimulated by novelty or a life of

incessant action. Yet he felt deeply anxious to obtain more particulars

than he had hitherto gathered of the actual condition of the Peruvian

empire, of its strength and resources, of the monarch who ruled over it,

and of his present situation. He was also desirous, before taking any

decisive step for penetrating the country, to seek out some commodious

place for a settlement, which might afford him the means of a regular

communication with the colonies, and a place of strength, on which he

himself might retreat in case of disaster.

He decided, therefore, to leave part of his company at Tumbez, including

those who, from the state of their health, were least able to take the field,

and with the remainder to make an excursion into the interior, and

reconnoitre the land, before deciding on any plan of operations. He set

out early in May, 1532; and, keeping along the more level regions

himself, sent a small detachment under the command of Hernando de

Soto to explore the skirts of the vast sierra.

He maintained a rigid discipline on the march, commanding his soldiers

to abstain from all acts of violence, and punishing disobedience in the

most prompt and resolute manner.3 The natives rarely offered

resistance. When they did so, they were soon reduced, and Pizarro, far

from vindictive measures, was open to the first demonstrations of

submission. By this lenient and liberal policy, he soon acquired a name

among the inhabitants which effaced the unfavorable impressions made

of him in the earlier part of the campaign. The natives, as he marched

through the thick-settled hamlets which sprinkled the level region

between the Cordilleras and the ocean, welcomed him with rustic

hospitality, providing good quarters for his troops, and abundant

supplies, which cost but little in the prolific soil of the tierra caliente.

Everywhere Pizarro made proclamation that he came in the name of the

Holy Vicar of God and of the sovereign of Spain, requiring the

obedience of the inhabitants as true children of the Church, and vassals

of his lord and master. And as the simple people made no opposition to

a formula, of which they could not comprehend a syllable, they were

admitted as good subjects of the Crown of Castile, and their act of

homage--or what was readily interpreted as such--was duly recorded and

attested by the notary.4

At the expiration of some three or four weeks spent in reconnoitring the

country, Pizarro came to the conclusion that the most eligible site for his

new settlement was in the rich valley of Tangarala, thirty leagues south

of Tumbez, traversed by more than one stream that opens a

communication with the ocean. To this spot, accordingly, he ordered the

men left at Tumbez to repair at once in their vessels; and no sooner had

they arrived, than busy preparations were made for building up the town

in a manner suited to the wants of the colony. Timber was procured

from the neighboring woods. Stones were dragged from their quarries,

and edifices gradually rose, some of which made pretensions to strength,

if not to elegance. Among them were a church, a magazine for public

stores, a hall of justice, and a fortress. A municipal government was

organized, consisting of regidores, alcaldes, and the usual civic

functionaries. The adjacent territory was parcelled out among the

residents, and each colonist had a certain number of the natives allotted

to assist him in his labors; for, as Pizarro's secretary remarks, "it being

evident that the colonists could not support themselves without the

services of the Indians, the ecclesiastics and the leaders of the expedition

all agreed that a repartimiento of the natives would serve the cause of

religion, and tend greatly to their spiritual welfare, since they would thus

have the opportunity of being initiated in the true faith." 5

Having made these arrangements with such conscientious regard to the

welfare of the benighted heathen, Pizarro gave his infant city the name of

San Miguel, in acknowledgment of the service rendered him by that saint

in his battles with the Indians of Puna. The site originally occupied by

the settlement was afterward found to be so unhealthy, that it was

abandoned for another on the banks of the beautiful Piura. The town is

still of some note for its manufactures, though dwindled from its ancient

importance; but the name of San Miguel de Piura, which it bears, still

commemorates the foundation of the first European colony in the empire

of the Incas.

Before quitting the new settlement, Pizarro caused the gold and silver

ornaments which he had obtained in different parts of the country to be

melted down into one mass, and a fifth to be deducted for the Crown.

The remainder, which belonged to the troops, he persuaded them to

relinquish for the present; under the assurance of being repaid from the

first spoils that fell into their hands.6 With these funds, and other

articles collected in the course of the campaign, he sent back the vessels

to Panama. The gold was applied to paying off the ship-owners, and

those who had furnished the stores for the expedition. That he should so

easily have persuaded his men to resign present possession for a future

contingency is proof that the spirit of enterprise was renewed in their

bosoms in all its former vigor, and that they looked forward with the

same buoyant confidence to the results.

In his late tour of observation, the Spanish commander had gathered

much important intelligence in regard to the state of the kingdom. He

had ascertained the result of the struggle between the Inca brothers, and

that the victor now lay with his army encamped at the distance of only

ten or twelve days' journey from San Miguel. The accounts he heard of

the opulence and power of that monarch, and of his great southern

capital, perfectly corresponded with the general rumors before received;

and contained, therefore, something to stagger the confidence, as well as

to stimulate the cupidity, of the invaders.

Pizarro would gladly have seen his little army strengthened by

reinforcements, however small the amount; and on that account

postponed his departure for several weeks. But no reinforcement

arrived; and, as he received no further tidings from his associates, he

judged that longer delay would, probably, be attended with evils greater

than those to be encountered on the march; that discontents would

inevitably spring up in a life of inaction, and the strength and spirits of

the soldier sink under the enervating influence of a tropical climate. Yet

the force at his command, amounting to less than two hundred soldiers in

all, after reserving fifty for the protection of the new settlement, seemed

but a small one for the conquest of an empire. He might, indeed, instead

of marching against the Inca, take a southerly direction towards the rich

capital of Cuzco. But this would only be to postpone the hour of

reckoning. For in what quarter of the empire could he hope to set his

foot, where the arm of its master would not reach him? By such a course,

moreover, he would show his own distrust of himself. He would shake

that opinion of his invincible prowess, which he had hitherto endeavored

to impress on the natives, and which constituted a great secret of his

strength; which, in short, held sterner sway over the mind than the

display of numbers and mere physical force. Worse than all, such a

course would impair the confidence of his troops in themselves and their

reliance on himself. This would be to palsy the arm of enterprise at

once. It was not to be thought of.

But while Pizarro decided to march into the interior, it is doubtful

whether he had formed any more definite plan of action. We have no

means of knowing his intentions, at this distance of time, otherwise than

as they are shown by his actions. Unfortunately, he could not write, and

he has left no record, like the inestimable Commentaries of Cortes, to

enlighten us as to his motives. His secretary, and some of his

companions in arms, have recited his actions in detail; but the motives

which led to them they were not always so competent to disclose.

It is possible that the Spanish general, even so early as the period of his

residence at San Miguel, may have meditated some daring stroke, some

effective coup-de-main, which, like that of Cortes, when he carried off

the Aztec monarch to his quarters, might strike terror into the hearts of

the people, and at once decide the fortunes of the day. It is more

probable, however, that he now only proposed to present himself before

the Inca, as the peaceful representative of a brother monarch, and, by

these friendly demonstrations, disarm any feeling of hostility, or even of

suspicion. When once in communication with the Indian prince, he

could regulate his future course by circumstances.

On the 24th of September, 1532, five months after landing at Tumbez,

Pizarro marched out at the head of his little body of adventurers from the

gates of San Miguel, having enjoined it on the colonists to treat their

Indian vassals with humanity, and to conduct themselves in such a

manner as would secure the good-will of the surrounding tribes. Their

own existence, and with it the safety of the army and the success of the

undertaking, depended on this course. In the place were to remain the

royal treasurer, the veedor, or inspector of metals, and other officers of

the crown; and the command of the garrison was intrusted to the

contador, Antonio Nayafro.7 Then putting himself at the head of his

troops, the chief struck boldly into the heart of the country in the

direction where, as he was informed, lay the camp of the Inca. It was a

daring enterprise, thus to venture with a handful of followers into the

heart of a powerful empire, to present himself, face to face, before the

Indian monarch in his own camp, encompassed by the flower of his

victorious army! Pizarro had already experienced more than once the

difficulty of maintaining his ground against the rude tribes of the north,

so much inferior in strength and numbers to the warlike legions of Peru.

But the hazard of the game, as I have already more than once had

occasion to remark, constituted its great charm with the Spaniard. The

brilliant achievements of his countrymen, on the like occasions, with

means so inadequate, inspired him with confidence in his own good star;

and this confidence was one source of his success. Had he faltered for a

moment, had he stopped to calculate chances, he must inevitably have

failed; for the odds were too great to be combated by sober reason. They

were only to be met triumphantly by the spirit of the knight-errant.

After crossing the smooth waters of the Piura, the little army continued

to advance over a level district intersected by streams that descended

from the neighboring Cordilleras. The face of the country was shagged

over with forests of gigantic growth, and occasionally traversed by ridges

of barren land, that seemed like shoots of the adjacent Andes breaking up

the surface of the region into little sequestered valleys of singular

loveliness. The soil, though rarely watered by the rains of heaven, was

naturally rich, and wherever it was refreshed with moisture, as on the

margins of the streams, it was enamelled with the brightest verdure. The

industry of the inhabitants, moreover, had turned these streams to the

best account, and canals and aqueducts were seen crossing the low lands

in all directions, and spreading over the country, like a vast network,

diffusing fertility and beauty around them. The air was scented with the

sweet odors of flowers, and everywhere the eye was refreshed by the

sight of orchards laden with unknown fruits, and of fields waving with

yellow grain and rich in luscious vegetables of every description that

teem in the sunny clime of the equator. The Spaniards were among a

people who had carried the refinements of husbandry to a greater extent

than any yet found on the American continent; and, as they journeyed

through this paradise of plenty, their condition formed a pleasing

contrast to what they had before endured in the dreary wilderness of the

mangroves.

Everywhere, too, they were received with confiding hospitality by the

simple people; for which they were no doubt indebted, in a great

measure, to their own inoffensive deportment. Every Spaniard seemed

to be aware, that his only chance of success lay in conciliating the good

opinion of the inhabitants, among whom he had so recklessly cast his

fortunes. In most of the hamlets, and in every place of considerable size,

some fortress was to be found, or royal caravansary, destined for the Inca

on his progresses, the ample halls of which furnished abundant

accommodations for the Spaniards; who were thus provided with

quarters along their route at the charge of the very government which

they were preparing to overturn.8

On the fifth day after leaving San Miguel, Pizarro halted in one of these

delicious valleys, to give his troops repose, and to make a more complete

inspection of them. Their number amounted in all to one hundred and

seventy-seven, of which sixty-seven were cavalry. He mustered only

three arquebusiers in his whole company, and a few crossbow-men,

altogether not exceeding twenty.9 The troops were tolerably well

equipped, and in good condition. But the watchful eye of their

commander noticed with uneasiness, that, notwithstanding the general

heartiness, in the cause manifested by his followers, there were some

among them whose countenances lowered with discontent, and who,

although they did not give vent to it in open murmurs, were far from

moving with their wonted alacrity.

He was aware, that, if this spirit became contagious, it would be the ruin

of the enterprise; and he thought it best to exterminate the gangrene; at

once, and at whatever cost, than to wait until it had infected the whole

system. He came to an extraordinary resolution.

Calling his men together, he told them that "a crisis had now arrived in

their affairs, which it demanded all their courage to meet. No man

should think of going forward in the expedition, who could not do so

with his whole heart, or who had the least misgiving as to its success. If

any repented of his share in it, it was not too late to turn back. San

Miguel was but poorly garrisoned, and he should be glad to see it in

greater strength. Those who chose might return to this place, and they

should be entitled to the same proportion of lands and Indian vassals as

the present residents. With the rest, were they few or many, who chose

to take their chance with him, he should pursue the adventure to the

end."10

It was certainly a remarkable proposal for a commander, who was

ignorant of the amount of disaffection in his ranks, and who could not

safely spare a single man from his force, already far too feeble for the

undertaking. Yet, by insisting on the wants of the little colony of San

Miguel, he afforded a decent pretext for the secession of the

malecontents, and swept away the barrier of shame which might have

still held them in the camp. Notwithstanding the fair opening thus

afforded, there were but few, nine in all, who availed themselves of the

general's permission. Four of these belonged to the infantry, and five to

the horse. The rest loudly declared their resolve to go forward with their

brave leader; and, if there were some whose voices were faint amidst the

general acclamation, they, at least, relinquished the right of complaining

hereafter, since they had voluntarily rejected the permission to return.11

This stroke of policy in their sagacious captain was attended with the

best effects. He had winnowed out the few grains of discontent, which,

if left to themselves, might have fermented in secret till the whole mass

had swelled into mutiny. Cortes had compelled his men to go forward

heartily in his enterprise, by burning their vessels, and thus cutting off

the only means of retreat. Pizarro, on the other hand, threw open the

gates to the disaffected and facilitated their departure. Both judged right,

under their peculiar circumstances, and both were perfectly successful.

Feeling himself strengthened, instead of weakened, by his loss, Pizarro

now resumed his march, and, on the second day, arrived before a place

called Zaran, situated in a fruitful valley among the mountains. Some of

the inhabitants had been drawn off to swell the levies of Atahuallpa. The

Spaniards had repeated experience on their march of the oppressive

exactions of the Inca, who had almost depopulated some of the valleys to

obtain reinforcements for his army. The curaca of the Indian town where

Pizarro now arrived, received him with kindness and hospitality, and the

troops were quartered as usual in one of the royal tambos or

caravansaries, which were found in all the principal places.12

Yet the Spaniards saw no signs of their approach to the royal

encampment, though more time had already elapsed than was originally

allowed for reaching it. Shortly before entering Zaran, Pizarro had heard

that a Peruvian garrison was established in a place called Caxas, lying

among the hills, at no great distance from his present quarters. He

immediately despatched a small party under Hernando de Soto in that

direction, to reconnoitre the ground, and bring him intelligence of the

actual state of things, at Zaran, where he would halt until his officer's

return.

Day after day passed on, and a week had elapsed before tidings were

received of his companions, and Pizarro was becoming seriously alarmed

for their fate, when on the eighth morning Soto appeared, bringing with

him an envoy from the Inca himself. He was a person of rank, and was

attended by several followers of inferior condition. He had met the

Spaniards at Caxas, and now accompanied them on their return, to

deliver his sovereign's message, with a present to the Spanish

commander. The present consisted of two fountains, made of stone, in

the form of fortresses; some fine stuffs of woollen embroidered with gold

and silver; and a quantity of goose-flesh, dried and seasoned in a peculiar

manner, and much used as a perfume, in a pulverized state, by the

Peruvian nobles.13 The Indian ambassador came charged also with his

master's greeting to the strangers, whom Atahuallpa welcomed to his

country, and invited to visit him in his camp among the mountains.14

Pizarro well understood that the Inca's object in this diplomatic visit was

less to do him courtesy, than to inform himself of the strength and

condition of the invaders. But he was well pleased with the embassy,

and dissembled his consciousness of its real purpose. He caused the

Peruvian to be entertained in the best manner the camp could afford, and

paid him the respect, says one of the Conquerors, due to the ambassador

of so great a monarch.15 Pizarro urged him to prolong his visit for some

days, which the Indian envoy declined, but made the most of his time

while there, by gleaning all the information he could in respect to the

uses of every strange article which he saw, as well as the object of the

white men's visit to the land, and the quarter whence they came.

The Spanish captain satisfied his curiosity in all these particulars. The

intercourse with the natives, it may be here remarked, was maintained by

means of two of the youths who had accompanied the Conquerors on

their return home from their preceding voyage. They had been taken by

Pizarro to Spain, and, as much pains had been bestowed on teaching

them the Castilian, they now filled the office of interpreters, and opened

an easy communication with their countrymen. It was of inestimable

service; and well did the Spanish commander reap the fruits of his

forecast.16

On the departure of the Peruvian messenger, Pizarro presented him with

a cap of crimson cloth, some cheap but showy ornaments of glass, and

other toys, which he had brought for the purpose from Castile. He

charged the envoy to tell his master, that the Spaniards came from a

powerful prince, who dwelt far beyond the waters; that they had heard

much of the fame of Atahuallpa's victories, and were come to pay their

respects to him, and to offer their services by aiding him with their arms

against his enemies; and he might be assured, they would not halt on the

road, longer than was necessary, before presenting themselves before

him.

Pizarro now received from Soto a full account of his late expedition.

That chief, on entering Caxas, found the inhabitants mustered in hostile

array, as if to dispute his passage. But the cavalier soon convinced them

of his pacific intentions, and, laying aside their menacing attitude, they

received the Spaniards with the same courtesy which had been shown

them in most places on their march.

Here Soto found one of the royal officers, employed in collecting the

tribute for the government. From this functionary he learned that the

Inca was quartered with a large army at Caxamalca, a place of

considerable size on the other side of the Cordillera, where he was

enjoying the luxury of the warm baths, supplied by natural springs, for

which it was then famous, as it is at the present day. The cavalier

gathered, also, much important information in regard to the resources

and the general policy of government, the state maintained by the Inca,

and the stern severity with which obedience to the law was everywhere

enforced. He had some opportunity of observing this for himself, as, on

entering the village, he saw several Indians hanging dead by their heels,

having been executed for some violence offered to the Virgins of the

Sun, of whom there was a convent in the neighborhood.17

From Caxas, De Soto had passed to the adjacent town of Guancabamba,

much larger, more populous, and better built than the preceding. The

houses, instead of being made of clay baked in the sun, were many of

them constructed of solid stone, so nicely put together, that it was

impossible to detect the line of junction. A river, which passed through

the town, was traversed by a bridge, and the high road of the Incas,

which crossed this district, was far superior to that which the Spaniards

had seen on the sea-board. It was raised in many places, like a

causeway, paved with heavy stone flags, and bordered by trees that

afforded a grateful shade to the passenger, while streams of water were

conducted through aqueducts along the sides to slake his thirst. At

certain distances, also, they noticed small houses, which, they were told,

were for the accommodation of the traveller, who might thus pass,

without inconvenience, from one end of the kingdom to the other.18 In

another quarter they beheld one of those magazines destined for the

army, filled with grain, and with articles of clothing; and at the entrance

of the town was a stone building, occupied by a public officer, whose

business it was to collect the toils or duties on various commodities

brought into the place, or carried out of it.19 These accounts of De Soto

not only confirmed all that the Spaniards had heard of the Indian empire,

but greatly raised their ideas of its resources and domestic policy. They

might well have shaken the confidence of hearts less courageous.

Pizarro, before leaving his present quarters, despatched a messenger to

San Miguel with particulars of his movements, sending, at the same time,

the articles received from the Inca, as well as those obtained at different

places on the route. The skill shown in the execution of some of these

fabrics excited great admiration, when sent to Castile. The fine woollen

cloths, especially, with their rich embroidery, were pronounced equal to

silk, from which it was not easy to distinguish them. It was probably the

delicate wool of the vicuna, none of which had then been seen in

Europe.20

Pizarro, having now acquainted himself with the most direct route to

Caxamalca,--the Caxamarca of the present day,--resumed his march,

taking a direction nearly south. The first place of any size at which he

halted was Motupe, pleasantly situated in a fruitful valley, among hills of

no great elevation, which cluster round the base of the Cordilleras. The

place was deserted by its curaca, who, with three hundred of its warriors,

had gone to join the standard of their Inca. Here the general,

notwithstanding his avowed purpose to push forward without delay,

halted four days. The tardiness of his movements can be explained only

by the hope, which he may have still entertained of being joined by

further reinforcements before crossing the Cordilleras. None such

appeared, however; and advancing across a country in which tracts of

sandy plain were occasionally relieved by a broad expanse of verdant

meadow, watered by natural streams and still more abundantly by those

brought through artificial channels, the troops at length arrived at the

borders of a river. It was broad and deep, and the rapidity of the current

opposed more than ordinary difficulty to the passage. Pizarro,

apprehensive lest this might be disputed by the natives on the opposite

bank, ordered his brother Hernando to cross over with a small

detachement under cover of night, and secure a safe landing for the rest

of the troops. At break of day Pizarro made preparations for his own

passage, by hewing timber in the neighboring woods, and constructing a

sort of floating bridge, on which before nightfall the whole company

passed in safety, the horses swimming, being led by the bridle. It was a

day of severe labor, and Pizarro took his own share in it freely, like a

common soldier, having ever a word of encouragement to say to his

followers.

On reaching the opposite side, they learned from their comrades that the

people of the country, instead of offering resistance, had fled in dismay.

One of them, having been taken and brought before Hernando Pizarro,

refused to answer the questions put to him respecting the Inca and his

army; till, being put to the torture, he stated that Atahuallpa was

encamped, with his whole force, in three separate divisions, occupying

the high grounds and plains of Caxamalca. He further stated, that the

Inca was aware of the approach of the white men and of their small

number, and that he was purposely decoying them into his own quarters,

that he might have them more completely in his power.

This account, when reported by Hernando to his brother, caused the

latter much anxiety. As the timidity of the peasantry, however, gradually

wore off, some of them mingled with the troops, and among them the

curaca or principal person of the village. He had himself visited the

royal camp, and he informed the general that Atahuallpa lay at the strong

town of Guamachucho, twenty leagues or more south of Caxamalca, with

an army of at least fifty thousand men.

These contradictory statements greatly perplexed the chieftain; and he

proposed to one of the Indians who had borne him company during a

great part of the march, to go as a spy into the Inca's quarters, and bring

him intelligence of his actual position, and, as far as he could learn them,

of his intentions towards the Spaniards. But the man positively declined

this dangerous service, though he professed his willingness to go as an

authorized messenger of the Spanish commander.

Pizarro acquiesced in this proposal, and instructed his envoy to assure

the Inca that he was advancing with all convenient speed to meet him.

He was to acquaint the monarch with the uniformly considerate conduct

of the Spaniards towards his subjects, in their progress through the land,

and to assure him that they were now coming in full confidence of

finding in him the same amicable feelings towards themselves. The

emissary was particularly instructed to observe if the strong passes on the

road were defended, or if any preparations of a hostile character were to

be discerned. This last intelligence he was to communicate to the

general by means of two or three nimble-footed attendants, who were to

accompany him on his mission.21

Having taken this precaution, the wary commander again resumed his

march, and at the end of three days reached the base of the mountain

rampart, behind which lay the ancient town of Caxamalca. Before him

rose the stupendous Andes, rock piled upon rock, their skirts below dark

with evergreen forests, varied here and there by terraced patches of

cultivated garden, with the peasant's cottage clinging to their shaggy

sides, and their crests of snow glittering high in the heavens,--presenting

altogether such a wild chaos of magnificence and beauty as no other

mountain scenery in the world can show. Across this tremendous

rampart, through a labyrinth of passes, easily capable of defence by a

handful of men against an army, the troops were now to march. To the

right ran a broad and level road, with its border of friendly shades, and

wide enough for two carriages to pass abreast. It was one of the great

routes leading to Cuzco, and seemed by its pleasant and easy access to

invite the wayworn soldier to choose it in preference to the dangerous

mountain defiles. Many were accordingly of opinion that the army

should take this course, and abandon the original destination to

Caxamalca. But such was not the decision of Pizarro.

The Spaniards had everywhere proclaimed their purpose, he said, to visit

the Inca in his camp. This purpose had been communicated to the Inca

himself. To take an opposite direction now would only be to draw on

them the imputation of cowardice, and to incur Atahuallpa's contempt.

No alternative remained but to march straight across the sierra to his

quarters "Let every one of you," said the bold cavalier, "take heart and

go forward like a good soldier, nothing daunted by the smallness of your

numbers. For in the greatest extremity God ever fights for his own; and

doubt not he will humble the pride of the heathen, and bring him to the

knowledge of the true faith, the great end and object of the Conquest."

22

Pizarro, like Cortes, possessed a good share of that frank and manly

eloquence which touches the heart of the soldier more than the parade of

rhetoric or the finest flow of elocution. He was a soldier himself, and

partook in all the feelings of the soldier, his joys, his hopes, and his

disappointments. He was not raised by rank and education above

sympathy with the humblest of his followers. Every chord in their

bosoms vibrated with the same pulsations as his own, and the conviction

of this gave him a mastery over them. "Lead on," they shouted, as he

finished his brief but animating address, "lead on wherever you think

best. We will follow with good-will, and you shall see that we can do our

duty in the cause of God and the King!" 23 There was no longer

hesitation. All thoughts were now bent on the instant passage of the

Cordilleras.

Book 3

Chapter 4

Severe Passage Of The Andes--Embassies From Atahuallpa--

The Spaniards Reach Caxamalca--Embassy To The Inca--

Interview With The Inca--Despondency Of The Spaniards

1532

That night Pizarro held a council of his principal officers, and it was

determined that he should lead the advance, consisting of forty horse and

sixty foot, and reconnoitre the ground; while the rest of the company,

under his brother Hernando, should occupy their present position till they

received further orders.

At early dawn the Spanish general and his detachment were under arms,

and prepared to breast the difficulties of the sierra. These proved even

greater than had been foreseen. The path had been conducted in the

most judicious manner round the rugged and precipitous sides of the

mountains, so as best to avoid the natural impediments presented by the

ground. But it was necessarily so steep, in many places, that the cavalry

were obliged to dismount, and, scrambling up as they could, to lead their

horses by the bridle. In many places, too, where some huge crag or

eminence overhung the road, this was driven to the very verge of the

precipice; and the traveller was compelled to wind along the narrow

ledge of rock, scarcely wide enough for his single steed, where a misstep

would precipitate him hundreds, nay, thousands, of feet into the dreadful

abyss! The wild passes of the sierra, practicable for the half-naked

Indian, and even for the sure and circumspect mule,--an animal that

seems to have been created for the roads of the Cordilleras,--were

formidable to the man-at-arms encumbered with his panoply of mail.

The tremendous fissures or quebradas, so frightful in this mountain

chain, yawned open, as if the Andes had been split asunder by some

terrible convulsion, showing a broad expanse of the primitive rock on

their sides, partially mantled over with the spontaneous vegetation of

ages; while their obscure depths furnished a channel for the torrents, that,

rising in the heart of the sierra, worked their way gradually into light, and

spread over the savannas and green valleys of the tierra caliente on their

way to the great ocean.

Many of these passes afforded obvious points of defence; and the

Spaniards, as they entered the rocky defiles, looked with apprehension

lest they might rouse some foe from his ambush. This apprehension was

heightened, as, at the summit of a steep and narrow gorge, in which they

were engaged, they beheld a strong work, rising like a fortress, and

frowning, as it were, in gloomy defiance on the invaders. As they drew

near this building, which was of solid stone, commanding an angle of the

road, they almost expected to see the dusky forms of the warriors rise

over the battlements, and to receive their tempest of missiles on their

bucklers; for it was in so strong a position, that a few resolute men might

easily have held there an army at bay. But they had the satisfaction to

find the place untenanted, and their spirits were greatly raised by the

conviction that the Indian monarch did not intend to dispute their

passage, when it would have been easy to do so with success.

Pizarro now sent orders to his brother to follow without delay; and, after

refreshing his men, continued his toilsome ascent, and before nightfall

reached an eminence crowned by another fortress, of even greater

strength than the preceding. It was built of solid masonry, the lower part

excavated from the living rock, and the whole work executed with skill

not inferior to that of the European architect.1

Here Pizarro took up his quarters for the night. Without waiting for the

arrival of the rear, on the following morning he resumed his march,

leading still deeper into the intricate gorges of the sierra. The climate

had gradually changed, and the men and horses, especially the latter,

suffered severely from the cold, so long accustomed as they had been to

the sultry climate of the tropics.2 The vegetation also had changed its

character; and the magnificent timber which covered the lower level of

the country had gradually given way to the funereal forest of pine, and,

as they rose still higher, to the stunted growth of numberless Alpine

plants, whose hardy natures found a congenial temperature in the icy

atmosphere of the more elevated regions. These dreary solitudes seemed

to be nearly abandoned by the brute creation as well as by man. The

light-footed vicuna, roaming in its native state, might be sometimes seen

looking down from some airy cliff, where the foot of the hunter dared not

venture. But instead of the feathered tribes whose gay plumage sparkled

in the deep glooms of the tropical forests, the adventurers now beheld

only the great bird of the Andes, the loathsome condor, who, sailing high

above the clouds, followed with doleful cries in the track of the army, as

if guided by instinct in the path of blood and carnage.

At length they reached the crest of the Cordillera, where it spreads out

into a bold and bleak expanse, with scarce the vestige of vegetation,

except what is afforded by the pajonal, a dried yellow grass, which, as it

is seen from below, encircling the base of the snow-covered peaks,

looks, with its brilliant straw-color lighted up in the rays of an ardent

sun, like a setting of gold round pinnacles of burnished silver. The land

was sterile, as usual in mining districts, and they were drawing near the

once famous gold quarries on the way to Caxamalca;

"Rocks rich in gems, and mountains big with mines,

That on the high equator ridgy rise."

Here Pizarro halted for the coming up of the rear. The air was sharp and

frosty; and the soldiers, spreading their tents, lighted fires, and, huddling

round them, endeavored to find some repose after their laborious

march.3

They had not been long in these quarters, when a messenger arrived, one

of those who had accompanied the Indian envoy sent by Pizarro to

Atahuallpa. He informed the general that the road was free from

enemies, and that an embassy from the Inca was on its way to the

Castilian camp. Pizarro now sent back to quicken the march of the rear,

as he was unwilling that the Peruvian envoy should find him with his

present diminished numbers. The rest of the army were not far distant,

and not long after reached the encampment.

In a short time the Indian embassy also arrived, which consisted of one

of the Inca nobles and several attendants, bringing a welcome present of

llamas to the Spanish commander. The Peruvian bore, also, the

greetings of his master, who wished to know when the Spaniards would

arrive at Caxamalca, that he might provide suitable refreshments for

them. Pizarro learned that the Inca had left Guamachucho, and was now

lying with a small force in the neighborhood of Caxamalca, at a place

celebrated for its natural springs of warm water. The Peruvian was an

intelligent person, and the Spanish commander gathered from him many

particulars respecting the late contests which had distracted the empire.

As the envoy vaunted in lofty terms the military prowess and resources

of his sovereign, Pizarro thought it politic to show that it had no power to

overawe him. He expressed his satisfaction at the triumphs of

Atahuallpa, who, he acknowledged, had raised himself high in the rank

of Indian warriors. But he was as inferior, he added with more policy

than politeness, to the monarch who ruled over the white men, as the

petty curacas of the country were inferior to him. This was evident from

the ease with which a few Spaniards had overrun this great continent,

subduing one nation after another, that had offered resistance to their

arms. He had been led by the fame of Atahuallpa to visit his dominions,

and to offer him his services in his wars; and, if he were received by the

Inca in the same friendly spirit with which he came, he was willing, for

the aid he could render him, to postpone awhile his passage across the

country to the opposite seas. The Indian, according to the Castilian

accounts, listened with awe to this strain of glorification from the

Spanish commander. Yet it is possible that the envoy was a better

diplomatist than they imagined; and that he understood it was only the

game of brag at which he was playing with his more civilized

antagonist.4

On the succeeding morning, at an early hour, the troops were again on

their march, and for two days were occupied in threading the airy defiles