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$Title{History Of The Conquest Of Peru
Chapter I}
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$Author{Prescott, William H.}
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$Date{1864}
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Title:       History Of The Conquest Of Peru
Book:        Book IV: Civil Wars Of The Conquerors
Author:      Prescott, William H.
Date:        1864

Chapter I

Almagro's March To Chili. - Suffering Of The Troops. - He Returns And Seizes
Cuzco. - Action Of Abancay. - Gaspar De Espinosa. - Almagro Leaves Cuzco. -
Negotiations With Pizarro.

     1535-1537.

     While the events recorded in the preceding chapter were passing, the
Marshal Almagro was engaged in his memorable expedition to Chili.  He had set
out, as we have seen, with only part of his forces, leaving his lieutenant to
follow him with the remainder.  During the first part of the way, he profited
by the great military road of the Incas, which stretched across the table-land
far towards the south.  But as he drew near to Chili, the Spanish commander
became entangled in the defiles of the mountains, where no vestige of a road
was to be discerned.  Here his progress was impeded by all the obstacles which
belong to the wild scenery of the Cordilleras; deep and ragged ravines, round
whose sides a slender sheep-path wound up to a dizzy height over the
precipices below; rivers rushing in fury down the slopes of the mountains, and
throwing themselves in stupendous cataracts into the yawning abyss; dark
forests of pine that seemed to have no end, and then again long reaches of
desolate table-land, without so much as a bush or shrub to shelter the
shivering traveller from the blast that swept down from the frozen summits of
the sierra.

     The cold was so intense, that many lost the nails of their fingers, their
fingers themselves. and sometimes their limbs.  Others were blinded by the
dazzling waste of snow, reflecting the rays of a sun made intolerably
brilliant in the thin atmosphere of these elevated regions. Hunger came, as
usual, in the train of woes; for in these dismal solitudes no vegetation that
would suffice for the food of man was visible, and no living thing, except
only the great bird of the Andes, hovering over their heads in expectation of
his banquet.  This was too frequently afforded by the number of wretched
Indians, who, unable, from the scantiness of their clothing, to encounter the
severity of the climate, perished by the way. Such was the pressure of hunger,
that the miserable survivors fed on the dead bodies of their countrymen, and
the Spaniards forced a similar sustenance from the carcasses of their horses,
literally frozen to death in the mountain passes. ^1 - Such were the terrible
penalties which Nature imposed on those who rashly intruded on these her
solitary and most savage haunts.

[Footnote 1: Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 5, lib. 10, cap. 1 - 3. - Oviedo
Hist. de las Indias, Ms., Parte 3, lib. 9, cap. 4. - Conq. i Pob. del
Piru, Ms.]

     Yet their own sufferings do not seem to have touched the hearts of the
Spaniards with any feeling of compassion for the weaker natives. Their path
was everywhere marked by burnt and desolated hamlets, the inhabitants of which
were compelled to do them service as beasts of burden.  They were chained
together in gangs of ten or twelve, and no infirmity or feebleness of body
excused the unfortunate captive from his full share of the common toil, till
he sometimes dropped dead, in his very chains, from mere exhaustion! ^2
Alvarado's company are accused of having been more cruel than Pizarro's; and
many of Almagro's men, it may be remembered, were recruited from that source.
The commander looked with displeasure, it is said, on these enormities, and
did what he could to repress them.  Yet he did not set a good example in his
own conduct, if it be true that he caused no less than thirty Indian chiefs to
be burnt alive, for the massacre of three of his followers! ^3 The heart
sickens at the recital of such atrocities perpetrated on an unoffending
people, or, at least, guilty of no other crime than that of defending their
own soil too well.

[Footnote 2: Conq. i Pob. del Piru, Ms.

     The writer must have made one on this expedition, as he speaks from
personal observation.  The poor natives had at least one friend in the
Christian camp.  "I si en el Real havia algun Espanol que era buen rancheador
i cruel i matava muchos Indios tenianle por buen hombre i en grand reputacion
i el que era inclinado a hacer bien i a hacer buenos tratamientos a los
naturales i los favorecia no era tenido en tan buena estima, he apuntado esto
que vi con mis ejos i en que por mis pecados anduve porque entiendan los que
esto leyeren que de la manera que aqui digo i con mayores crueldades harto se
hizo esta jornada i descubrimiento de Chile"]

[Footnote 3: "I para castigarlos por la muerte destos tres Espanoles juntolos
en un aposento donde estava aposentado i mando cavalgar la jente de cavallo i
la de apie que guardasen las puertas i todos estuviesen apercividos i los
prendio i en conclusion hizo quemar mas de 30 senores vivos atados cada uno a
su palo" (Conq. i Pob. del Piru, Ms.) Oviedo, who always shows the hard
feeling of the colonist, excuses this on the old plea of necessity, - fue
necesario este castigo, - and adds, that after this a Spaniard might send a
messenger from one end of the country to the other, without fear of injury
Hist. de las Indias, Ms, Parte 3 lib. 9, cap. 4.]

     There is something in the possession of superior strength most dangerous,
in a moral view, to its possessor.  Brought in contact with semi-civilized
man, the European, with his endowments and effective force so immeasurably
superior, holds him as little higher than the brute, and as born equally for
his service.  He feels that he has a natural right, as it were, to his
obedience, and that this obedience is to be measured, not by the powers of the
barbarian, but by the will of his conqueror. Resistance becomes a crime to be
washed out only in the blood of the victim.  The tale of such atrocities is
not confined to the Spaniard. Wherever the civilized man and the savage have
come in contact, in the East or in the West, the story has been too often
written in blood.

     From the wild chaos of mountain scenery the Spaniards emerged on the
green vale of Coquimbo, about the thirtieth degree of south latitude. Here
they halted to refresh themselves in its abundant plains, after their
unexampled sufferings and fatigues.  Meanwhile Almagro despatched an officer
with a strong party in advance, to ascertain the character of the country
towards the south.  Not long after, he was cheered by the arrival of the
remainder of his forces under his lieutenant Rodrigo de Orgonez. This was a
remarkable person, and intimately connected with the subsequent fortunes of
Almagro.

     He was a native of Oropesa, had been trained in the Italian wars, and
held the rank of ensign in the army of the Constable of Bourbon at the famous
sack of Rome.  It was a good school in which to learn his iron trade, and to
steel the heart against any too ready sensibility to human suffering.  Orgonez
was an excellent soldier; true to his commander, prompt, fearless, and
unflinching in the execution of his orders.  His services attracted the notice
of the Crown, and, shortly after this period, he was raised to the rank of
Marshal of New Toledo.  Yet it may be doubted whether his character did not
qualify him for an executive and subordinate station rather than for one of
higher responsibility.

     Almagro received also the royal warrant, conferring on him his new powers
and territorial jurisdiction.  The instrument had been detained by the
Pizarros to the very last moment.  His troops, long since disgusted with their
toilsome and unprofitable march, were now clamorous to return. Cuzco, they
said, undoubtedly fell within the limits of his government, and it was better
to take possession of its comfortable quarters than to wander like outcasts in
this dreary wilderness.  They reminded their commander that thus only could he
provide for the interests of his son Diego.  This was an illegitimate son of
Almagro, on whom his father doated with extravagant fondness, justified more
than usual by the promising character of the youth.

     After an absence of about two months, the officer sent on the exploring
expedition returned, bringing unpromising accounts of the southern regions of
Chili.  The only land of promise for the Castilian was one that teemed with
gold. ^4 He had penetrated to the distance of a hundred leagues, to the
limits, probably, of the conquests of the Incas on the river Maule. ^5 The
Spaniards had fortunately stopped short of the land of Arauco, where the blood
of their countrymen was soon after to be poured out like water, and which
still maintains a proud independence amidst the general humiliation of the
Indian races around it.

[Footnote 4: It is the language of a Spaniard; "i como no le parecio bien
la tierra por no ser quajada de oro." Conq. i Pob. del Piru, Ms.]

[Footnote 5: According to Oviedo, a hundred and fifty leagues, and very
near, as they told him, to the end of the world; cerca del fin del mundo.
(Hist. de las Indias, Ms., Parte 3, lib. 9, cap. 5.) One must not expect
to meet with very accurate notions of geography in the rude soldiers of
America]

     Almagro now yielded, with little reluctance, to the renewed
importunities of the soldiers, and turned his face towards the North.  It
is unnecessary to follow his march in detail.  Disheartened by the
difficulty of the mountain passage, he took the road along the coast,
which led him across the great desert of Atacama.  In crossing this dreary
waste, which stretches for nearly a hundred leagues to the northern
borders of Chili, with hardly a green spot in its expanse to relieve the
fainting traveller, Almagro and his men experienced as great sufferings,
though not of the same kind, as those which they had encountered in the
passes of the Cordilleras.  Indeed, the captain would not easily be found
at this day, who would venture to lead his army across this dreary region.
But the Spaniard of the sixteenth century had a strength of limb and a
buoyancy of spirit which raised him to a contempt of obstacles, almost
justifying the boast of the historian, that "he contended indifferently,
at the same time, with man, with the elements, and with famine!" ^6

[Footnote 6: "Peleando en un tiempo con los Enemigos, con los Elementos, i
con la Hambre." Herrera, Hist General, dec. 5, lib. 10, cap. 2]

     After traversing the terrible desert, Almagro reached the ancient
town of Arequipa, about sixty leagues from Cuzco.  Here he learned with
astonishment the insurrection of the Peruvians, and further, that the
young Inca Manco still lay with a formidable force at no great distance
from the capital.  He had once been on friendly terms with the Peruvian
prince, and he now resolved, before proceeding farther, to send an embassy
to his camp, and arrange an interview with him in the neighbourhood of
Cuzco.

     Almagro's emissaries were well received by the Inca, who alleged his
grounds of complaint against the Pizarros, and named the vale of Yucay as
the place where he would confer with the marshal.  The Spanish commander
accordingly resumed his march, and, taking one half of his force, whose
whole number fell somewhat short of five hundred men, he repaired in
person to the place of rendezvous; while the remainder of his army
established their quarters at Urcos, about six leagues from the capital. ^7

[Footnote 7: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Conq. i Pob. del Piru,
Ms. - Oviedo, Hist. de las Indias, Ms., Parte 3, lib. 9, cap. 6]

     The Spaniards in Cuzco, startled by the appearance of this fresh body
of troops in their neighbourhood, doubted, when they learned the quarter
whence they came, whether it betided them good or evil.  Hernando Pizarro
marched out of the city with a small force, and, drawing near to Urcos,
heard with no little uneasiness of Almagro's purpose to insist on his
pretensions to Cuzco.  Though much inferior in strength to his rival, he
determined to resist him.

     Meanwhile, the Peruvians, who had witnessed the conference between the
soldiers of the opposite camps, suspected some secret understanding between
the parties, which would compromise the safety of the Inca.  They communicated
their distrust to Manco, and the latter, adopting the same sentiments, or
perhaps, from the first, meditating a surprise of the Spaniards, suddenly fell
upon the latter in the valley of Yucay with a body of fifteen thousand men.
But the veterans of Chili were too familiar with Indian tactics to be taken by
surprise.  And though a sharp engagement ensued, which lasted more than an
hour, in which Orgonez had a horse killed under him, the natives were finally
driven back with great slaughter, and the Inca was so far crippled by the
blow, that he was not likely for the present to give further molestation. ^8

[Footnote 8: Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 3, cap. 4. - Conq. i Pob. del
Piru, Ms., Parte 3, lib. 8, cap. 21.]

     Almagro, now joining the division left at Urcos, saw no further
impediment to his operations on Cuzco.  He sent, at once, an embassy to
the municipality of the place, requiring the recognition of him as its
lawful governor, and presenting at the same time a copy of his credentials
from the Crown.  But the question of jurisdiction was not one easy to be
settled, depending, as it did, on a knowledge of the true parallels of
latitude, not very likely to be possessed by the rude followers of
Pizarro.  The royal grant had placed under his jurisdiction all the
country extending two hundred and seventy leagues south of the river of
Santiago, situated one degree and twenty minutes north of the equator.
Two hundred and seventy leagues on the meridian, by our measurement, would
fall more than a degree short of Cuzco, and, indeed, would barely include
the city of Lima itself.  But the Spanish leagues, of only seventeen and a
half to a degree, ^9 would remove the southern boundary to nearly half a
degree beyond the capital of the Incas, which would thus fall within the
jurisdiction of Pizarro. ^10 Yet the division-line ran so close to the
disputed ground, that the true result might reasonably be doubted, where
no careful scientific observations had been made to obtain it; and each
party was prompt to assert, as they always are in such cases, that its own
claim was clear and unquestionable. ^11

[Footnote 9: "Contando diez i siete leg as i media por grado." Herrera
Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 3, cap. 5.]

[Footnote 10: The government had endeavoured early to provide against any
dispute in regard to the limits of the respective jurisdictions.  The
language of the original grants gave room to some misunderstanding; and,
as early as 1536, Fray Jomas de Berlanga, Bishop of Tierra Firme, had been
sent to Lima with full powers to determine the question of boundary, by
fixing the latitude of the river of Santiago, and measuring two hundred
and seventy leagues south on the meridian.  But Pizarro, having engaged
Almagro in his Chili expedition, did not care to revive the question, and
the Bishop returned, re infecta, to his diocese, with strong feelings of
disgust towards the governor.  Ibid., dec. 6, lib. 3, cap. 1.]

[Footnote 11: "All say," says Oviedo, in a letter to the emperor, "that
Cuzco falls within the territory of Almagro." Oviedo was, probably, the
best-informed man in the colonies.  Yet this was an error.  Carta desde
Sto. Domingo, Ms., 25 de Oct. 1539.]

     Thus summoned by Almagro, the authorities of Cuzco, unwilling to give
umbrage to either of the contending chiefs, decided that they must wait
until they could take counsel - which they promised to do at once - with
certain pilots better instructed than themselves in the position of the
Santiago.  Meanwhile, a truce was arranged between the parties, each
solemnly engaging to abstain from hostile measures, and to remain quiet in
their present quarters.

     The weather now set in cold and rainy.  Almagro's soldiers, greatly
discontented with their position, flooded as it was by the waters, were
quick to discover that Hernando Pizarro was busily employed in
strengthening himself in the city, contrary to agreement.  They also
learned with dismay, that a large body of men, sent by the governor from
Lima, under command of Alonso de Alvarado, was on the march to relieve
Cuzco.  They exclaimed that they were betrayed, and that the truce had
been only an artifice to secure their inactivity until the arrival of the
expected succours.  In this state of excitement, it was not very difficult
to persuade their commander - too ready to surrender his own judgment to
the rash advisers around him - to violate the treaty, and take possession
of the capital. ^12

[Footnote 12: According to Zarate, Almagro, on entering the capital, found
no appearance of the designs imputed to Hernando, and exclaimed that "he
had been deceived." (Conq. del Peru, lib. 3, cap. 4.) He was probably easy
of faith in the matter.]

     Under cover of a dark and stormy night (April 8th, 1537), he entered
the place without opposition, made himself master of the principal church,
established strong parties of cavalry at the head of the great avenues to
prevent surprise, and detached Orgonez with a body of infantry to force
the dwelling of Hernando Pizarro.  That captain was lodged with his
brother Gonzalo in one of the large halls built by the Incas for public
diversions, with immense doors of entrance that opened on the plaza.  It
was garrisoned by about twenty soldiers, who, as the gates were burst
open, stood stoutly to the defence of their leader.  A smart struggle
ensued, in which some lives were lost, till at length Orgonez, provoked by
the obstinate resistance, set fire to the combustible roof of the
building.  It was speedily in flames, and the burning rafters falling on
the heads of the inmates, they forced their reluctant leader to an
unconditional surrender.  Scarcely had the Spaniards left the building,
when the whole roof fell in with a tremendous crash. ^13

[Footnote 13: Carta de Espinall, Tesorero de N. Toledo, 15 de Junio, 1539.
- Conq. i Pob. del Piru, Ms. - Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. -
Oviedo, Hist. de las Indias, Ms., Parte 3, lib. 8, cap. 21.]

     Almagro was now master of Cuzco.  He ordered the Pizarros, with
fifteen or twenty of the principal cavaliers, to be secured and placed in
confinement.  Except so far as required for securing his authority, he
does not seem to have been guilty of acts of violence to the
inhabitants, ^14 and he installed one of Pizarro's most able officers,
Gabriel de Rojas, in the government of the city.  The municipality, whose
eyes were now open to the validity of Almagro's pretensions, made no
further scruple to recognize his title to Cuzco.

[Footnote 14: So it would appear from the general testimony; yet Pedro
Pizarro, one of the opposite faction, and among those imprisoned by
Almagro, complains that that chief plundered them of their horses and
other property.  Descub. y Conq., Ms.]

     The marshal's first step was to send a message to Alonso de
Alvarado's camp, advising that officer of his occupation of the city, and
requiring his obedience to him, as its legitimate master.  Alvarado was
lying, with a body of five hundred men, horse and foot, at Xauxa, about
thirteen leagues from the capital.  He had been detached several months
previously for the relief of Cuzco; but had, most unaccountably, and, as
it proved, most unfortunately for the Peruvian capital, remained at Xauxa
with the alleged motive of protecting that settlement and the surrounding
country against the insurgents. ^15 He now showed himself loyal to his
commander; and, when Almagro's ambassadors reached his camp, he put them
in irons, and sent advice of what had been done to the governor at Lima.

[Footnote 15: Pizarro's secretary Picado had an encomienda in that
neighbourhood, and Alvarado, who was under personal obligations to him,
remained there, it is said, at his instigation.  (Herrera, Hist. General,
dec. 5, lib. 8, cap. 7.) Alvarado was a good officer, and largely trusted,
both before and after, by the Pizarros; and we may presume there was some
explanation of his conduct, of which we are not possessed.]

     Almagro, offended by the detention of his emissaries, prepared at
once to march against Alonso de Alvarado, and take more effectual means to
bring him to submission.  His lieutenant, Orgonez, strongly urged him
before his departure to strike off the heads of the Pizarros, alleging,
"that, while they lived, his commander's life would never be safe"; and
concluding with the Spanish proverb, "Dead men never bite." ^16 But the
marshal, though he detested Hernando in his heart, shrunk from so violent
a measure; and, independently of other considerations, he had still an
attachment for his old associate, Francis Pizarro, and was unwilling to
sever the ties between them for ever.  Contenting himself, therefore, with
placing his prisoners under strong guard in one of the stone buildings
belonging to the House of the Sun, he put himself at the head of his
forces, and left the capital in quest of Alvarado.

[Footnote 16: "El muerto no mordia." Ibid., dec. 6, lib. 2, cap. 8.]

     That officer had now taken up a position on the farther side of the
Rio de Abancay, where he lay, with the strength of his little army, in
front of a bridge, by which its rapid waters are traversed, while a strong
detachment occupied a spot commanding a ford lower down the river.  But in
this detachment was a cavalier of much consideration in the army, Pedro de
Lerma, who, from some pique against his commander, had entered into
treasonable correspondence with the opposite party.  By his advice,
Almagro, on reaching the border of the river, established himself against
the bridge in face of Alvarado, as if prepared to force a passage, thus
concentrating his adversary's attention on that point.  But, when darkness
had set in, he detached a large body under Orgonez to pass the ford, and
operate in concert with Lerma.  Orgonez executed this commission with his
usual promptness.  The ford was crossed, though the current ran so
swiftly, that several of his men were swept away by it, and perished in
the waters.  Their leader received a severe wound himself in the mouth, as
he was gaining the opposite bank, but, nothing daunted, he cheered on his
men, and fell with fury on the enemy.  He was speedily joined by Lerma,
and such of the soldiers as he had gained over, and, unable to distinguish
friend from foe, the enemy's confusion was complete.

     Meanwhile, Alvarado, roused by the noise of the attack on this
quarter, hastened to the support of his officer, when Almagro, seizing the
occasion, pushed across the bridge, dispersed the small body left to
defend it, and, falling on Alvarado's rear, that general saw himself
hemmed in on all sides.  The struggle did not last long; and the
unfortunate chief, uncertain on whom he could rely, surrendered with all
his force, - those only excepted who had already deserted to the enemy.
Such was the battle of Abancay, as it was called, from the river on whose
banks it was fought, on the twelfth of July, 1537.  Never was a victory
more complete, or achieved with less cost of life; and Almagro marched
back, with an array of prisoners scarcely inferior to his own army in
number, in triumph to Cuzco. ^17

[Footnote 17: Carta de Francisco Pizarro al Obispo de Tierra Firme, Ms.,
28 de Agosto, 1539. - Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Oviedo, Hist.
de las Indias, Ms., ubi supra. - Conq. i Pob. del Piru, Ms. - Carta de
Espinall, Ms.]

     While the events related in the preceding pages were passing,
Francisco Pizarro had remained at Lima, anxiously awaiting the arrival of
the reinforcements which he had requested, to enable him to march to the
relief of the beleaguered capital of the Incas.  His appeal had not been
unanswered.  Among the rest was a corps of two hundred and fifty men, led
by the Licentiate Gaspar de Espinosa, one of the three original
associates, it may be remembered, who engaged in the conquest of Peru.  He
had now left his own residence at Panama, and came in person, for the
first time, it would seem, to revive the drooping fortunes of his
confederates.  Pizarro received also a vessel laden with provisions,
military stores, and other necessary supplies, besides a rich wardrobe for
himself, from Cortes, the Conqueror of Mexico, who generously stretched
forth his hand to aid his kinsman in the hour of need. ^18

[Footnote 18: "Fernando Cortes embio con Rodrigo de Grijalva en vn proprio
Navio suio, desde la Nueva Espana, muchas Armas, Tiros, Jaeces, Aderecos,
Vestidos de Seda, i vna Ropa de Martas." Gomara, Hist de las Ind., cap.
136.]

     With a force amounting to four hundred and fifty men, half of them
cavalry, the governor quitted Lima, and began his march on the Inca
capital.  He had not advanced far, when he received tidings of the return
of Almagro, the seizure of Cuzco, and the imprisonment of his brothers;
and, before he had time to recover from this astounding intelligence, he
learned the total defeat and capture of Alvarado.  Filled with
consternation at these rapid successes of his rival, he now returned in
all haste to Lima, which he put in the best posture of defence, to secure
it against the hostile movements, not unlikely, as he thought, to be
directed against that capital itself.  Meanwhile, far from indulging in
impotent sallies of resentment, or in complaints of his ancient comrade,
he only lamented that Almagro should have resorted to these violent
measures for the settlement of their dispute, and this less - if we may
take his word for it - from personal considerations than from the
prejudice it might do to the interests of the Crown. ^19

[Footnote 19: Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 2, cap. 7]

     But, while busily occupied with warlike preparations, he did not omit
to try the effect of negotiation.  He sent an embassy to Cuzco, consisting
of several persons in whose discretion he placed the greatest confidence,
with Espinosa at their head, as the party most interested in an amicable
arrangement.

     The licentiate, on his arrival, did not find Almagro in as favorable
a mood for an accommodation as he could have wished.  Elated by his recent
successes, he now aspired not only to the possession of Cuzco, but of Lima
itself, as falling within the limits of his jurisdiction.  It was in vain
that Espinosa urged the propriety, by every argument which prudence could
suggest, of moderating his demands.  His claims upon Cuzco, at least, were
not to be shaken, and he declared himself ready to peril his life in
maintaining them.  The licentiate coolly replied by quoting the pithy
Castilian proverb, El vencido vencido, y el vencidor perdido; "The
vanquished vanquished, and the victor undone."

     What influence the temperate arguments of the licentiate might
eventually have had on the heated imagination of the soldier is doubtful;
but unfortunately for the negotiation, it was abruptly terminated by the
death of Espinosa himself, which took place most unexpectedly, though,
strange to say, in those times, without the imputation of poison. ^20 He
was a great loss to the parties in the existing fermentation of their
minds; for he had the weight of character which belongs to wise and
moderate counsels, and a deeper interest than any other man in
recommending them.

[Footnote 20: Carta de Pizarro al Obispo de Tierra Firme, Ms. - Herrera,
Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 2, cap. 13. - Carta de Espinall, Ms.]

     The name of Espinosa is memorable in history from his early
connection with the expedition to Peru, which, but for the seasonable,
though secret, application of his funds, could not then have been
compassed.  He had long been a resident in the Spanish colonies of Tierra
Firme and Panama, where he had served in various capacities, sometimes as
a legal functionary presiding in the courts of justice, ^21 and not
unfrequently as an efficient leader in the early expeditions of conquest
and discovery.  In these manifold vocations he acquired high reputation
for probity, intelligence, and courage, and his death at the present
crisis was undoubtedly the most unfortunate event that could befall the
country.

[Footnote 21: He incurred some odium as presiding officer in the trial and
condemnation of the unfortunate Vasco Nunez de Balboa.  But it must be
allowed, that he made great efforts to resist the tyrannical proceedings
of Pedrarias, and he earnestly recommended the prisoner to mercy.  See
Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 2, lib. 2, cap. 21, 22.]

     All attempt at negotiation was now abandoned; and Almagro announced
his purpose to descend to the sea-coast, where he could plant a colony and
establish a port for himself.  This would secure him the means, so
essential, of communication with the mother-country, and here he would
resume negotiations for the settlement of his dispute with Pizarro.
Before quitting Cuzco, he sent Orgonez with a strong force against the
Inca, not caring to leave the capital exposed in his absence to further
annoyance from that quarter.

     But the Inca, discouraged by his late discomfiture, and unable,
perhaps, to rally in sufficient strength for resistance, abandoned his
strong-hold at Tambo, and retreated across the mountains.  He was hotly
pursued by Orgonez over hill and valley, till, deserted by his followers,
and with only one of his wives to bear him company, the royal fugitive
took shelter in the remote fastnesses of the Andes. ^22

[Footnote 22: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Conq. i Pob. de Piru
Ms.]

     Before leaving the capital, Orgonez again urged his commander to
strike off the heads of the Pizarros, and then march at once upon Lima.
By this decisive step he would bring the war to an issue, and for ever
secure himself from the insidious machinations of his enemies.  But, in
the mean time, a new friend had risen up to the captive brothers.  This
was Diego de Alvarado, brother of that Pedro, who, as mentioned in a
preceding chapter, had conducted the unfortunate expedition to Quito.
After his brother's departure, Diego had attached himself to the fortunes
of Almagro, had accompanied him to Chili, and, as he was a cavalier of
birth, and possessed of some truly noble qualities, he had gained deserved
ascendency over his commander.  Alvarado had frequently visited Hernando
Pizarro in his confinement, where, to beguile the tediousness of
captivity, he amused himself with gaming, - the passion of the Spaniard.
They played deep, and Alvarado lost the enormous sum of eighty thousand
gold castellanos.  He was prompt in paying the debt, but Hernando Pizarro
peremptorily declined to receive the money.  By this politic generosity,
he secured an important advocate in the council of Almagro.  It stood him
now in good stead.  Alvarado represented to the marshal, that such a
measure as that urged by Orgonez would not only outrage the feelings of
his followers, but would ruin his fortunes by the indignation it must
excite at court.  When Almagro acquiesced in these views, as in truth most
grateful to his own nature, Orgonez, chagrined at his determination,
declared that the day would come when he would repent this mistaken
lenity.  "A Pizarro," he said, "was never known to forget an injury; and
that which they had already received from Almagro was too deep for them to
forgive." Prophetic words!

     On leaving Cuzco, the marshal gave orders that Gonzalo Pizarro and
the other prisoners should be detained in strict custody.  Hernando he
took with him, closely guarded, on his march.  Descending rapidly towards
the coast, he reached the pleasant vale of Chincha in the latter part of
August.  Here he occupied himself with laying the foundations of a town
bearing his own name, which might serve as a counterpart to the City of
the Kings, - thus bidding defiance, as it were, to his rival on his own
borders.  While occupied in this manner, he received the unwelcome
tidings, that Gonzalo Pizarro, Alonso de Alvarado, and the other
prisoners, having tampered with their guards, had effected their escape
from Cuzco, and he soon after heard of their safe arrival in the camp of
Pizarro.

     Chafed by this intelligence, the marshal was not soothed by the
insinuations of Orgonez, that it was owing to his ill-advised lenity; and
it might have gone hard with Hernando, but that Almagro's attention was
diverted by the negotiation which Francisco Pizarro now proposed to
resume.

     After some correspondence between the parties, it was agreed to
submit the arbitration of the dispute to a single individual, Fray
Francisco de Bovadilla, a Brother of the Order of Mercy.  Though living in
Lima, and, as might be supposed, under the influence of Pizarro, he had a
reputation for integrity that disposed Almagro to confide the settlement
of the question exclusively to him.  In this implicit confidence in the
friar's impartiality, Orgonez, of a less sanguine temper than his chief,
did not participate. ^23

[Footnote 23: Carta de Gutierrez al Emperador, Ms., 10 de Feb. 1539. -
Carta de Espinall, Ms. - Oviedo, Hist. de las Ind., Ms., ubi supra. -
Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6 lib. 2, cap. 8-14. - Pedro Pizarro, Descub.
y. Conq., Ms. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 3, cap. 8. - Naharro,
Relacion Sumaria, Ms.]

     An interview was arranged between the rival chiefs.  It took place at
Mala, November 13th, 1537; but very different was the deportment of the
two commanders towards each other from that which they had exhibited at
their former meetings.  Almagro, indeed, doffing his bonnet, advanced in
his usual open manner to salute his ancient comrade; but Pizarro, hardly
condescending to return the salute, haughtily demanded why the marshal had
seized upon his city of Cuzco, and imprisoned his brothers.  This led to a
recrimination on the part of his associate.  The discussion assumed the
tone of an angry altercation, till Almagro, taking a hint - or what he
conceived to be such - from an attendant, that some treachery was
intended, abruptly quitted the apartment, mounted his horse, and galloped
back to his quarters at Chincha. ^24 The conference closed, as might have
been anticipated from the heated temper of their minds when they began it,
by widening the breach it was intended to heal.  The friar, now left
wholly to himself, after some deliberation, gave his award.  He decided
that a vessel, with a skilful pilot on board, should be sent to determine
the exact latitude of the river of Santiago, the northern boundary of
Pizarro's territory, by which all the measurements were to be regulated.
In the mean time, Cuzco was to be delivered up by Almagro, and Hernando
Pizarro to be set at liberty, on condition of his leaving the country in
six weeks for Spain.  Both parties were to retire within their undisputed
territories, and to abandon all further hostilities. ^25

[Footnote 24: It was said that Gonzalo Pizarro lay in ambush with a strong
force in the neighbourhood to intercept the marshal, and that the latter
was warned of his danger by an honorable cavalier of the opposite party,
who repeated a distich of an old ballad,

     "Tiempo es el Caballero
     Tiempo es de andar de aqui."

(Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 3, cap. 4.) Pedro Pizarro admits the
truth of the design imputed to Gonzalo, which he was prevented from putting
into execution by the commands of the governor, who, the chronicler, with
edifying simplicity, or assurance, informs us, was a man that scrupulously
kept his word.  "Porque el marquez don Francisco Picarro hera hombre que
guardava mucho su palabra." Descub. y Conq., Ms.]

[Footnote 25: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Carta de Espinall, Ms.]

     This award, as may be supposed, highly satisfactory to Pizarro, was
received by Almagro's men with indignation and scorn.  They had been sold,
they cried, by their general, broken, as he was, by age and infirmities. Their
enemies were to occupy Cuzco and its pleasant places, while they were to be
turned over to the barren wilderness of Charcas.  Little did they dream that
under this poor exterior were hidden the rich treasures of Potosi.  They
denounced the umpire as a hireling of the governor, and murmurs were heard
among the troops, stimulated by Orgonez, demanding the head of Hernando.
Never was that cavalier in greater danger.  But his good genius in the form of
Alvarado again interposed to protect him.  His life in captivity was a
succession of reprieves. ^26

[Footnote 26: Espinall, Almagro's treasurer, denounces the friar "as proving
himself a very devil" by this award.  (Carta al Emperador, Ms.) And Oviedo, a
more dispassionate judge, quotes, without condemning, a cavalier who told the
father, that "a sentence so unjust had not been pronounced since the time of
Pontius Pilate"!  Hist. de las Indias, Ms., Parte 3, lib. 8, cap. 21.]

     Yet his brother, the governor, was not disposed to abandon him to his
fate.  On the contrary, he was now prepared to make every concession to secure
his freedom.  Concessions, that politic chief well knew, cost little to those
who are not concerned to abide by them.  After some preliminary negotiation,
another award, more equitable, or, at all events, more to the satisfaction of
the discontented party, was given.  The principal articles of it were, that,
until the arrival of some definitive instructions on the point from Castile,
the city of Cuzco, with its territory, should remain in the hands of Almagro;
and that Hernando Pizarro should be set at liberty, on the condition, above
stipulated, of leaving the country in six weeks. - When the terms of this
agreement were communicated to Orgonez, that officer intimated his opinion of
them, by passing his finger across his throat, and exclaiming, "What has my
fidelity to my commander cost me!" ^27

[Footnote 27: "I tomando la barba con la mano izquierda, con la derecha hico
senal de cortarse la cabeca, diciendo: Orgonez, Orgonez, por el amistad de Don
Diego de Almagro te han de cortar esta." Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, lib.
3, cap. 9.]

     Almagro, in order to do greater honor to his prisoner, visited him in
person, and announced to him that he was from that moment free.  He expressed
a hope, at the same time, that "all past differences would be buried in
oblivion, and that henceforth they should live only in the recollection of
then ancient friendship." Hernando replied, with apparent cordiality, that "he
desired nothing better for himself." He then swore in the most solemn manner,
and pledged his knightly honor, - the latter, perhaps, a pledge of quite as
much weight in his own mind as the former, - that he would faithfully comply
with the terms stipulated in the treaty. He was next conducted by the marshal
to his quarters, where he partook of a collation in company with the principal
officers; several of whom, together with Diego Almagro, the general's son,
afterward escorted the cavalier to his brother's camp, which had been
transferred to the neighbouring town of Mala.  Here the party received a most
cordial greeting from the governor, who entertained them with a courtly
hospitality, and lavished many attentions, in particular, on the son of his
ancient associate.  In short, such, on their return, was the account of their
reception, that it left no doubt in the mind of Almagro that all was at length
amicably settled. ^28 - He did not know Pizarro.

[Footnote 28: Ibid., loc. cit. - Carta de Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Zarate
Gutierrez, Ms. - Pedro Pizarro, Conq. del Peru, lib. 3, cap. 9.]