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$Title{History Of The Conquest Of Peru
Chapter IX: Part III}
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$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 IX: Part III

     At length, in July, 1546, the new governor bade adieu to Quito, and,
leaving there a sufficient garrison under his officer Puelles, began his
journey to the south.  It was a triumphal progress, and everywhere he was
received on the road with enthusiasm by the people.  At Truxillo, the
citizens came out in a body to welcome him, and the clergy chanted anthems
in his honor, extolling him as the "victorious prince," and imploring the
Almighty "to lengthen his days, and give him honor." ^35 At Lima, it was
proposed to clear away some of the buildings, and open a new street for
his entrance, which might ever after bear the name of the victor.  But the
politic chieftain declined this flattering tribute, and modestly preferred
to enter the city by the usual way.  A procession was formed of the
citizens, the soldiers, and the clergy, and Pizarro made his entry into
the capital with two of his principal captains on foot, holding the reins
of his charger, while the archbishop of Lima, and the bishops of Cuzco,
Quito, and Bogota, the last of whom had lately come to the city to be
consecrated, rode by his side.  The streets were strewn with boughs, the
walls of the houses hung with showy tapestries, and triumphal arches were
thrown over the way in honor of the victor.  Every balcony, veranda, and
house-top was crowded with spectators, who sent up huzzas, loud and long,
saluting the victorious soldier with the titles of "Liberator, and
Protector of the people." The bells rang out their joyous peal, as on his
former entrance into the capital; and amidst strains of enlivening music,
and the blithe sounds of jubilee, Gonzalo held on his way to the palace of
his brother.  Peru was once more placed under the dynasty of the
Pizarros. ^36

[Footnote 35: "Victorioso Principe, hagate Dios dichoso, l bienaventurado,
el te mantenga, i te conserve." Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 8, lib. 2,
cap. 9.]

[Footnote 36: For an account of this pageant, see Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y
Conq., Ms. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 8, lib. 2, cap. 9. - Zarate,
Conq. del Peru, lib. 6, cap. 5. - Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro a Valdivia,
Ms.]

     Deputies came from different parts of the country, tendering the
congratulations of their respective cities; and every one eagerly urged
his own claims to consideration for the services he had rendered in the
revolution.  Pizarro, at the same time, received the welcome intelligence
of the success of his arms in the south.  Diego Centeno, as before stated,
had there raised the standard of rebellion, or rather, of loyalty to his
sovereign.  He had made himself master of La Plata, and the spirit of
insurrection had spread over the broad province of Charcas.  Carbajal, who
had been sent against him from Quito, after repairing to Lima, had passed
at once to Cuzco, and there, strengthening his forces, had descended by
rapid marches on the refractory district.  Centeno did not trust himself
in the field against this formidable champion.  He retreated with his
troops into the fastnesses of the sierra.  Carbajal pursued, following on
his track with the pertinacity of a bloodhound; over mountain and moor,
through forests and dangerous ravines, allowing him no respite, by day or
by night.  Eating, drinking, sleeping in his saddle, the veteran, eighty
years of age, saw his own followers tire one after another, while he urged
on the chase, like the wild huntsman of Burger, as if endowed with an
unearthly frame, incapable of fatigue!  During this terrible pursuit,
which continued for more than two hundred leagues over a savage country,
Centeno found himself abandoned by most of his followers.  Such of them as
fell into Carbajal's hands were sent to speedy execution; for that
inexorable chief had no mercy on those who had been false to their
party. ^37 At length, Centeno, with a handful of men, arrived on the
borders of the Pacific, and there, separating from one another, they
provided, each in the best way he could, for their own safety.  Their
leader found an asylum in a cave in the mountains, where he was secretly
fed by an Indian curaca, till the time again came for him to unfurl the
standard of revolt. ^38

[Footnote 37: Poblando los arboles con sus cuerpos, "peopling the trees
with heir bodies," says Fernandez, strongly; alluding to the manner in
which the ferocious officer hung up his captives on the branches.]

[Footnote 38: For the expedition of Carbajal, see Herrera, Hist. General,
dec. 8, lib. 1, cap. 9, et seq. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 6, cap. 1.
- Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 4, cap. 28, 29, 36, 39. -
Fernandez, Hist. del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 2, cap. 1, et seq. - Carta de
Gonzalo Pizarro a Valdivia, Ms.

     It is impossible to give, in a page or two, any adequate idea of the
hairbreadth escapes and perilous risks of Carbajal, not only from the
enemy, but from his own men, whose strength he overtasked in the chase.
They rival those of the renowned Scanderbeg, or our own Kentucky hero,
Colonel Boone.  They were, indeed, far more wonderful than theirs, since
the Spanish captain had reached an age when the failing energies usually
crave repose.  But the veteran's body seems to have been as insensible as
his soul.]

     Carbajal, after some further decisive movements, which fully
established the ascendency of Pizarro over the south, returned in triumph
to La Plata.  There he occupied himself with working the silver mines of
Potosi, in which a vein, recently opened, promised to make richer returns
than any yet discovered in Mexico or Peru; ^39 and he was soon enabled to
send large remittances to Lima, deducting no stinted commission for
himself, - for the cupidity of the lieutenant was equal to his cruelty.

[Footnote 39: The vein now discovered at Potosi was so rich, that the
other mines were comparatively deserted in order to work this.  (Zarate,
Conq. del Peru, lib. 6, cap 4) The effect of the sudden influx of wealth
was such, according to Garcilasso, that in ten years from this period an
iron horseshoe, in that quarter, came to be worth nearly its weight in
silver.  Com. Real., Parte 1, lib. 8, cap. 24.]

     Gonzalo Pizarro was now undisputed master of Peru.  From Quito to the
northern confines of Chili, the whole country acknowledged his authority.
His fleet rode triumphant on the Pacific, and gave him the command of
every city and hamlet on its borders.  His admiral, Hinojosa, a discreet
and gallant officer, had secured him Panama, and, marching across the
Isthmus, had since obtained for him the possession of Nombre de Dios, -
the principal key of communication with Europe.  His forces were on an
excellent footing, including the flower of the warriors who had fought
under his brother, and who now eagerly rallied under the name of Pizarro;
while the tide of wealth that flowed in from the mines of Potosi supplied
him with the resources of an European monarch.

     The new governor now began to assume a state correspondent with his
full-blown fortunes.  He was attended by a body-guard of eighty soldiers.
He dined always in public, and usually with not less than a hundred guests
at table.  He even affected, it was said, the more decided etiquette of
royalty, giving his hand to be kissed, and allowing no one, of whatever
rank, to be seated in his presence. ^40 But this is denied by others.  It
would not be strange that a vain man like Pizarro, with a superficial,
undisciplined mind, when he saw himself thus raised from an humble
condition to the highest post in the land, should be somewhat intoxicated
by the possession of power, and treat with superciliousness those whom he
had once approached with deference.  But one who had often seen him in his
prosperity assures us, that it was not so, and that the governor continued
to show the same frank and soldierlike bearing as before his elevation,
mingling on familiar terms with his comrades, and displaying the same
qualities which had hitherto endeared him to the people. ^41

[Footnote 40: "Traia Guarda de ochenta Alabarderos, i otros muchos de
Caballo, que le acompanaban, i ia en su presencia ninguno se sentaba, i a
mui pocos quitaba la Gorra." Zarate, Conq. del Peru lib 6 cap. 5.]

[Footnote 41: Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 4, cap. 42.

     Garcilasso had opportunities of personal acquaintance with Gonzalo's
manner of living; for, when a boy, he was sometimes admitted, as he tells
us, to a place at his table.  This courtesy, so rare from the Conquerors
to any of the Indian race, was not lost on the historian of the Incas, who
has depicted Gonzalo Pizarro in more favorable colors than most of his own
countrymen.]

     However this may be, it is certain there were not wanting those who
urged him to throw off his allegiance to the Crown, and set up an
independent government for himself.  Among these was his lieutenant,
Carbajal, whose daring spirit never shrunk from following things to their
consequences.  He plainly counselled Pizarro to renounce his allegiance at
once.  "In fact, you have already done so," he said.  "You have been in
arms against a viceroy, have driven him from the country, beaten and slain
him in battle.  What favor, or even mercy, can you expect from the Crown?
You have gone too far either to halt, or to recede.  You must go boldly
on, proclaim yourself king; the troops, the people, will support you." And
he concluded, it is said, by advising him to marry the Coya, the female
representative of the Incas, that the two races might henceforth repose in
quiet under a common sceptre! ^42

[Footnote 42: Ibid., Parte 2, lib. 4, cap. 40. - Gomara, Hist. de las
Ind., cap. 172 - Fernandez, Hist. del Peru, Parte 1. lib. 2, cap. 13.

     The poet Molina has worked up this scene between Carbajal and his
commander with good effect, in his Amazonas en las Indias, where he uses
something of a poet's license in the homage he pays to the modest merits
of Gonzalo.  Julius Caesar himself was not more magnanimous.

     "Sepa mi Rey, sepa Espana,
     Que muero por no ofenderla,
     Tan facil de conservarla,
     Que pierdo por no agraviarla,
     Quanto infame en poseerla,
     Una Corona ofrecida."

     Among the biographical notices of the writers on Spanish colonial
affairs, the name of Herrera, who has done more for this vast subject than
any other author, should certainly not be omitted.  His account of Peru
takes its proper place in his great work, the Historia General de las
Indias, according to the chronological plan on which that history is
arranged.  But as it suggests reflections not different in character from
those suggested by other portions of the work, I shall take the liberty to
refer the reader to the Postscript to Book Third of the Conquest of
Mexico, for a full account of these volumes and their learned author.

     Another chronicler, to whom I have been frequently indebted in the
progress of the narrative, is Francisco Lopez de Gomara.  The reader will
also find a notice of this author in the Conquest of Mexico, Vol. III.,
Book 5, Postscript.  But as the remarks on his writings are there confined
to his Cronica de Nueva Espana, it may be well to add here some
reflections on his greater work, Historia de las Indias, in which the
Peruvian story bears a conspicuous part.

     The "History of the Indies" is intended to give a brief view of the
whole range of Spanish conquest in the islands and on the American
continent, as far as had been achieved by the middle of the sixteenth
century.  For this account, Gomara, though it does not appear that he ever
visited the New World, was in a situation that opened to him the best
means of information.  He was well acquainted with the principal men of
the time, and gathered the details of their history from their own lips;
while, from his residence at court, he was in possession of the state of
opinion there, and of the impression made by passing events on those most
competent to judge of them.  He was thus enabled to introduce into his
work many interesting particulars, not to be found in other records of the
period.  His range of inquiry extended beyond the mere doings of the
Conquerors, and led him to a survey of the general resources of the
countries he describes, and especially of their physical aspect and
productions.  The conduct of his work, no less than its diction, shows the
cultivated scholar, practised in the art of composition.  Instead of the
naivete, engaging, but childlike, of the old military chroniclers, Gomara
handles his various topics with the shrewd and piquant criticism of a man
of the world; while his descriptions are managed with a comprehensive
brevity that forms the opposite to the longwinded and rambling paragraphs
of the monkish annalist.  These literary merits, combined with the
knowledge of the writer's opportunities for information, secured his
productions from the oblivion which too often awaits the unpublished
manuscript; and he had the satisfaction to see them pass into more than
one edition in his own day. Yet they do not bear the highest stamp of
authenticity.  The author too readily admits accounts into his pages which
are not supported by contemporary testimony.  This he does, not from
credulity, for his mind rather leans in an opposite direction, but from a
want, apparently, of the true spirit of historic conscientiousness.  The
imputation of carelessness in his statements - to use a temperate phrase -
was brought against Gomara in his own day; and Garcilasso tells us, that,
when called to account by some of the Peruvian cavaliers for misstatements
which bore hard on themselves, the historian made but an awkward
explanation.  This is a great blemish on his productions, and renders them
of far less value to the modern compiler, who seeks for the well of truth
undefiled, than many an humbler but less unscrupulous chronicle.

     There is still another authority used in this work, Gonzalo Fernandez
de Oviedo, of whom I have given an account elsewhere; and the reader
curious in the matter will permit me to refer him for a critical notice of
his life and writings to the Conquest of Mexico, Book 4, Postscript. - His
account of Peru is incorporated into his great work, Natural e General
Historia de las Indias, Ms., where it forms the forty-sixth and
forty-seventh books.  It extends from Pizarro's landing at Tumbez to
Almagro's return from Chili, and thus covers the entire portion of what
may be called the conquest of the country.  The style of its execution,
corresponding with that of the residue of the work to which it belongs,
affords no ground for criticism different from that already passed on the
general character of Oviedo's writings.

     This eminent person was at once a scholar and a man of the world.
Living much at court, and familiar with persons of the highest distinction
in Castile, he yet passed much of his time in the colonies, and thus added
the fruits of personal experience to what he had gained from the reports
of others.  His curiosity was indefatigable, extending to every department
of natural science, as well as to the civil and personal history of the
colonists.  He was, at once, their Pliny and their Tacitus.  His works
abound in portraitures of character, sketched with freedom and animation.
His reflections are piquant, and often rise to a philosophic tone, which
discards the usual trammels of the age; and the progress of the story is
varied by a multiplicity of personal anecdotes, that give a rapid insight
into the characters of the parties.

     With his eminent qualifications, and with a social position that
commanded respect, it is strange that so much of his writings - the whole
of his great Historia de las Indias, and his curious Quincuagenas - should
be so long suffered to remain in manuscript.  This is partly chargeable to
the caprice of fortune; for the History was more than once on the eve of
publication, and is even now understood to be prepared for the press.  Yet
it has serious defects, which may have contributed to keep it in its
present form.  In its desultory and episodical style of composition, it
resembles rather notes for a great history, than history itself.  It may
be regarded in the light of commentaries, or as illustrations of the
times.  In that view his pages are of high worth, and have been frequently
resorted to by writers who have not too scrupulously appropriated the
statements of the old chronicler, with slight acknowledgments to their
author.

     It is a pity that Oviedo should have shown more solicitude to tell
what was new, than to ascertain how much of it was strictly true.  Among
his merits will scarcely be found that of historical accuracy.  And yet we
may find an apology for this, to some extent, in the fact, that his
writings, as already intimated, are not so much in the nature of finished
compositions, as of loose memoranda, where every thing, rumor as well as
fact, - even the most contradictory rumors, - are all set down at random,
forming a miscellaneous heap of materials, of which the discreet historian
may avail himself to rear a symmetrical fabric on foundations of greater
strength and solidity.

     Another author worthy of particular note is Pedro Cieza de Leon.  His
Cronica del Peru should more properly be styled an Itinerary, or rather
Geography, of Peru.  It gives a minute topographical view of the country
at the time of the Conquest; of its provinces and towns, both Indian and
Spanish; its flourishing sea-coast; its forests, valleys, and interminable
ranges of mountains in the interior; with many interesting particulars of
the existing population, - their dress, manners, architectural remains,
and public works, while, scattered here and there, may be found notices of
their early history and social polity.  It is, in short, a lively picture
of the country in its physical and moral relations, as it met the eye at
the time of the Conquest, and in that transition period when it was first
subjected to European influences.  The conception of a work, at so early a
period, on this philosophical plan, reminding us of that of Malte-Brun in
our own time, - parva componere magnis, - was, of itself, indicative of
great comprehensiveness of mind in its author.  It was a task of no little
difficulty, where there was yet no pathway opened by the labors of the
antiquarian; no hints from the sketch-book of the traveller, or the
measurements of the scientific explorer.  Yet the distances from place to
place are all carefully jotted down by the industrious compiler, and the
bearings of the different places and their peculiar features are exhibited
with sufficient precision, considering the nature of the obstacles he had
to encounter.  The literary execution of the work, moreover, is highly
respectable, sometimes even rich and picturesque; and the author describes
the grand and beautiful scenery of the Cordilleras with a sensibility to
its charms, not often found in the tasteless topographer, still less often
in the rude Conqueror.

     Cieza de Leon came to the New World, as he informs us, at the early
age of thirteen.  But it is not till Gasca's time that we find his name
enrolled among the actors in the busy scenes of civil strife, when he
accompanied the president in his campaign against Gonzalo Pizarro.  His
Chronicle, or, at least, the notes for it, was compiled in such leisure as
he could snatch from his more stirring avocations; and after ten years
from the time he undertook it, the First Part - all we have - was
completed in 1550, when the author had reached only the age of thirty-two.
It appeared at Seville in 1553, and the following year at Antwerp; while
an Italian translation, printed at Rome, in 1555, attested the rapid
celebrity of the work.  The edition of Antwerp - the one used by me in
this compilation - is in the duodecimo form, exceedingly well printed, and
garnished with wood-cuts, in which Satan, - for the author had a full
measure of the ancient credulity, - with his usual bugbear accompaniments,
frequently appears in bodily presence.  In the Preface, Cieza announces
his purpose to continue the work in three other parts, illustrating
respectively the ancient history of the country under the Incas, its
conquest by the Spaniards, and the civil wars which ensued.  He even
gives, with curious minuteness, the contents of the several books of the
projected history.  But the First Part, as already noticed, was alone
completed; and the author, having returned to Spain, died there in 1560,
at the premature age of forty-two, without having covered any portion of
the magnificent ground-plan which he had thus confidently laid out.  The
deficiency is much to be regretted, considering the talent of the writer,
and his opportunities for personal observation.  But he has done enough to
render us grateful for his labors.  By the vivid delineation of scenes and
scenery, as they were presented fresh to his own eyes, he has furnished us
with a background to the historic picture, - the landscape, as it were, in
which the personages of the time might be more fitly portrayed.  It would
have been impossible to exhibit the ancient topography of the land so
faithfully at a subsequent period, when old things had passed away, and
the Conqueror, breaking down the landmarks of ancient civilization, had
effaced many of the features even of the physical aspect of the country,
as it existed under the elaborate culture of the Incas.]

     The advice of the bold counsellor was, perhaps, the most politic that
could have been given to Pizarro under existing circumstances.  For he was
like one who had heedlessly climbed far up a dizzy precipice, - too far to
descend safely, while he had no sure hold where he was.  His only chance
was to climb still higher, till he had gained the summit.  But Gonzalo
Pizarro shrunk from the attitude, in which this placed him, of avowed
rebellion.  Notwithstanding the criminal course into which he had been, of
late, seduced, the sentiment of loyalty was too deeply implanted in his
bosom to be wholly eradicated.  Though in arms against the measures and
ministers of his sovereign, he was not prepared to raise the sword against
that sovereign himself. He, doubtless, had conflicting emotions in his
bosom; like Macbeth, and many a less noble nature,

     "Would not play false,
     And yet would wrongly win."

And however grateful to his vanity might be the picture of the air-drawn
sceptre thus painted to his imagination, he had not the audacity - we may,
perhaps, say, the criminal ambition - to attempt to grasp it.

     Even at this very moment, when urged to this desperate extremity, he was
preparing a mission to Spain, in order to vindicate the course he had taken,
and to solicit an amnesty for the past, with a full confirmation of his
authority, as successor to his brother in the government of Peru. - Pizarro
did not read the future with the calm, prophetic eye of Carbajal.