The Best of the Bureau/The_Best_of_the_Bureau_Bureau_Development_Inc._1992.iso/dp/0074/00741.txt

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$Unique_ID{bob00741}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{History Of The Conquest Of Peru
Chapter VI: Part I}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Prescott, William H.}
$Affiliation{}
$Subject{de
almagro
ms
pizarro
castro
footnote
governor
la
vaca
cap}
$Date{1864}
$Log{}
Title:       History Of The Conquest Of Peru
Book:        Book IV: Civil Wars Of The Conquerors
Author:      Prescott, William H.
Date:        1864

Chapter VI: Part I

Movements Of The Conspirators. - Advance Of Vaca De Castro - Proceedings Of
Almagro. - Progress Of The Governor. - The Forces Approach Each Other.  -
Bloody Plains Of Chupas.  - Conduct Of Vaca De Castro.

     1541-1543.

     The first step of the conspirators, after securing possession of the
capital, was to send to the different cities, proclaiming the revolution
which had taken place, and demanding the recognition of the young Almagro
as governor of Peru.  Where the summons was accompanied by a military
force, as at Truxillo and Arequipa, it was obeyed without much cavil.  But
in other cities a colder assent was given, and in some the requisition was
treated with contempt.  In Cuzco, the place of most importance next to
Lima, a considerable number of the Almagro faction secured the ascendency
of their party; and such of the magistracy as resisted were ejected from
their offices to make room for others of a more accommodating temper.  But
the loyal inhabitants of the city, dissatisfied with this proceeding,
privately sent to one of Pizarro's captains, named Alvarez de Holguin, who
lay with a considerable force in the neighbourhood; and that officer,
entering the place, soon dispossessed the new dignitaries of their honors,
and restored the ancient capital to its allegiance.

     The conspirators experienced a still more determined opposition from
Alonso de Alvarado. one of the principal captains of Pizarro, - defeated,
as the reader will remember, by the elder Almagro at the bridge of
Abancay, - and now lying in the north with a corps of about two hundred
men, as good troops as any in the land.  That officer, on receiving
tidings of his general's assassination, instantly wrote to the Licentiate
Vaca de Castro, advising him of the state of affairs in Peru, and urging
him to quicken his march towards the south. ^1

[Footnote 1: Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 4, cap. 13. - Herrera, Hist.
General, dec. 6, lib. 10, cap. 7. - Declaracion de Uscategui, Ms. - Carta
del Maestro, Martin de Arauco, Ms. - Carta de Fray Vicente Valverde, desde
Tumbez, Ms.]

     This functionary had been sent out by the Spanish Crown, as noticed
in a preceding chapter, to cooperate with Pizarro in restoring
tranquillity to the country, with authority to assume the government
himself, in case of that commander's death.  After a long and tempestuous
voyage, he had landed, in the spring of 1541, at the port of Buena
Ventura, and, disgusted with the dangers of the sea, preferred to continue
his wearisome journey by land.  But so enfeebled was he by the hardships
he had undergone, that it was full three months before he reached Popayan,
where he received the astounding tidings of the death of Pizarro.  This
was the contingency which had been provided for, with such judicious
forecast, in his instructions.  Yet he was sorely perplexed by the
difficulties of his situation.  He was a stranger in the land, with a very
imperfect knowledge of the country, without an armed force to support him,
without even the military science which might be supposed necessary to
avail himself of it.  He knew nothing of the degree of Almagro's
influence, or of the extent to which the insurrection had spread, -
nothing, in short, of the dispositions of the people among whom he was
cast.

     In such an emergency, a feebler spirit might have listened to the
counsels of those who advised to return to Panama, and stay there until he
had mustered a sufficient force to enable him to take the field against
the insurgents with advantage.  But the courageous heart of Vaca de Castro
shrunk from a step which would proclaim his incompetency to the task
assigned him.  He had confidence in his own resources, and in the virtue
of the commission under which he acted.  He relied, too, on the habitual
loyalty of the Spaniards; and, after mature deliberation, he determined to
go forward, and trust to events for accomplishing the objects of his
mission.

     He was confirmed in this purpose by the advices he now received from
Alvarado; and without longer delay, he continued his march towards Quito.
Here he was well received by Gonzalo Pizarro's lieutenant, who had charge
of the place during his commander's absence on his expedition to the
Amazon.  The licentiate was also joined by Benalcazar, the conqueror of
Quito, who brought a small reinforcement, and offered personally to assist
him in the prosecution of his enterprise.  He now displayed the royal
commission, empowering him, on Pizarro's death, to assume the government.
That contingency had arrived, and Vaca de Castro declared his purpose to
exercise the authority conferred on him.  At the same time, he sent
emissaries to the principal cities, requiring their obedience to him as
the lawful representative of the Crown, - taking care to employ discreet
persons on the mission, whose character would have weight with the
citizens.  He then continued his march slowly towards the south. ^2

[Footnote 2: Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 10, cap. 4. - Carta de
Benalcazar al Emperador, desde Cali, Ms., 20 Septiembre, 1542.

     Benalcazar urged Vaca de Castro to assume only the title of Judge,
and not that of Governor, which would conflict with the pretensions of
Almagro to that part of the country known as New Toledo and bequeathed to
him by his father "Porque yo le avise muchas veces no entrase en la tierra
como Governador, sino como Juez de V. M que venia a desagraviar a los
agraviados, porque todos lo rescibirian de buena gana." Ubi supra.]

     He was willing by his deliberate movements to give time for his
summons to take effect, and for the fermentation caused by the late
extraordinary events to subside.  He reckoned confidently on the loyalty
which made the Spaniard unwilling, unless in cases of the last extremity,
to come into collision with the royal authority; and, however much this
popular sentiment might be disturbed by temporary gusts of passion, he
trusted to the habitual current of their feelings for giving the people a
right direction.  In this he did not miscalculate; for so deep-rooted was
the principle of loyalty in the ancient Spaniard, that ages of oppression
and misrule could alone have induced him to shake off his allegiance.  Sad
it is, but not strange, that the length of time passed under a bad
government has not qualified him for devising a good one.

     While these events were passing in the north, Almagro's faction at
Lima was daily receiving new accessions of strength.  For, in addition to
those who, from the first, had been avowedly of his father's party, there
were many others who, from some cause or other, had conceived a disgust
for Pizarro, and who now willingly enlisted under the banner of the chief
that had overthrown him.

     The first step of the young general, or rather of Rada, who directed
his movements, was to secure the necessary supplies for the troops, most
of whom, having long been in indigent circumstances, were wholly
unprepared for service.  Funds to a considerable amount were raised, by
seizing on the moneys of the Crown in the hands of the treasurer.
Pizarro's secretary, Picado, was also drawn from his prison, and
interrogated as to the place where his master's treasures were deposited.
But, although put to the torture, he would not - or, as is probable, could
not - give information on the subject; and the conspirators, who had a
long arrear of injuries to settle with him, closed their proceedings by
publicly beheading him in the great square of Lima. ^3

[Footnote 3: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Carta de Barrio Nuevo,
Ms. - Carta de Fray Vicente Va