short time all this province gave in its submission, and peaceable
relations were once more established. The natives brought as gifts to
the Spaniards turquoises, tanned skins, maize, and other provisions,
and especially cotton stuffs, which were regarded by them as the
choicest present, since it did not grow in their own country. They
also gave information about a large river lying farther to the west,
on whose banks, at some days’ journey down the stream, there dwelt a
race of very large men. Tobar returned to Cibola with this report, and
Coronado immediately despatched a second exploring party to verify it,
under García Lopez de Cardenas. These were well received on their way
by the people of Tusayan, who supplied them with guides and provisions
for the journey. For twenty days their march lay through a desert, at
the end of which they came to the banks of a river which seemed to them
to be elevated “three or four leagues in the air.” So steep were these
banks that it was impossible to descend to the water, which appeared so
far away as to seem to be only an arm’s-length in width, and yet their
guides assured them that it was over half a league broad. Although it
was summer time, it was quite cold, and the country was covered with
a growth of stunted pines. For three days they followed the bank in
search of a passage; and some volunteers who made the attempt returned
with the report that they had only been able to accomplish a third of
the descent, and that rocks which had seemed scarcely as high as a
man, were found to be loftier than the towers of Seville Cathedral.
For three or four days more they continued on; but at length they were
forced to return by want of water, which they had been obliged to seek
for every night a league or two back from the river, and retraced their
steps to Cibola.[1432]

[Illustration: CORONADO’S EXPEDITION.

The map given in Ruge’s _Das Zeitalter der Entdeckungen_, p. 417. With
slight corrections, this is as accurate as our present information
permits. Melchior Diaz penetrated farther north, and crossed the
Colorado. Tiguex should be placed west of the Rio Grande, between Acoma
and Quirex. The Rio “Sangra” is probably a mistake for “Sonora.”]

In the mean time the main body of the army, which had been left at
Culiacan under the command of Tristan d’Arellano, with orders to
follow Coronado in a fortnight, set out, and slowly advancing reached
at length Cabeza de Vaca’s province of Corazones. Here it was thought
best to attempt to establish a colony; but owing to the difficulty of
procuring a sufficient supply of food, it was subsequently transferred
to the spot in the valley of the river which is now called Sonora. From
here Don Roderigo Maldonado was despatched down the river in the hope
of finding Alarcon’s vessels. He returned without having accomplished
his purpose, but brought back with him a native of huge stature, and
reported that a nation of still larger men dwelt farther down the
coast. The whole army now transferred itself across the river to the
new colony, and there waited for further orders from Coronado.

About the middle of September, 1540,[1433] Melchior Diaz and Juan
Gallegos arrived from Cibola with instructions for the army to proceed
thither at once. Gallegos continued on to Mexico, carrying to the
Viceroy an account of the discoveries; and with him went Fray Marcos,
who dared not remain any longer with the army, so incensed were they
with him for his gross misrepresentations. Diaz was ordered to remain
at the new colony in the capacity of governor, and to seek to put
himself in communication with Alarcon’s vessels. Immediately the army
took up its march for Cibola, but Arellano remained behind. As soon
as they had departed, Diaz set out to explore the sea-coast, leaving
Diego d’Alcarraz in command in his stead, who turned out to be very
poorly fitted to exercise authority, so that disorders and mutinies
broke out. Diaz himself, after marching one hundred and fifty leagues
in a southwesterly direction (as Castañeda reports),[1434] struck the
Tizon at some distance from its mouth, at a place where it was at
least half a league wide. Here he found a race of huge men dwelling
together in large numbers in underground cabins roofed with straw,
from whom he learned that the vessels had been seen three days’ march
down the stream. Upon reaching the spot indicated, which the natives
told him was fifteen leagues from its mouth, he came upon a tree with
an inscription upon it, and buried under it he found a writing stating
that Alarcon had come so far,[1435] and after waiting there awhile had
returned to New Spain. It also contained the information that this
supposed south sea was actually a gulf which separated the mainland
from what had been called the Island of California. With the intention
of exploring this peninsula, Diaz proceeded up the river five or six
days’ march in the hope of finding a ford, and at length attempted
to cross by means of rafts. The natives, whose assistance he had
called in to help construct them, proved treacherous, and laid a plot
to attack the Spaniards on both banks of the river, while a portion
were in the act of crossing. When this was detected, they made their
assault boldly, but were speedily put to flight. Diaz then continued
his journey along the coast, which took here a southeasterly direction,
until he reached a volcanic region where farther progress became
impossible. While retracing his steps, he met with an accident which
put an end to his life; but the rest of his party returned to Sonora in
safety.

While Diaz was making these explorations, the main body of the army
had continued on to Chichilticalli without having encountered any
other peril than being severely poisoned from having eaten preserved
fruits that had been given to them by the natives. Castañeda records
their falling in with a flock of large mountain sheep, which ran so
swiftly that they could not be captured. When within a day’s march of
Cibola they were overtaken by a terrible storm, accompanied by a heavy
snow-fall, which caused the Spaniards great suffering, and nearly cost
the lives of their Indian allies, natives of a warm country. But on
arriving they found comfortable quarters provided by Coronado, and the
whole force was now reunited, with the exception of a detachment which
had been sent upon an expedition in an entirely different direction.

A party of natives had come to Cibola from a village called Cicuyé,
situated some seventy leagues away toward the east, under a chief to
whom the Spaniards gave the name of Bigotes, from the long mustache
he wore. They proffered their friendly services to the strangers and
invited them to visit their country, at the same time making them
presents of tanned bison-skins. One of them had the figure of this
animal painted on his body, which gave the Spaniards their first
knowledge of its appearance. Coronado made them in return presents of
glass beads and bells, and ordered Hernando d’Alvarado to take twenty
men with him and explore that region, and after eighty days to return
and report what he had discovered. After five days’ travel Alvarado
came to a village called Acuco, situated on a precipitous cliff so high
that an arquebus-ball could scarcely reach the top. The only approach
to it was by an artificial stairway cut in the rock, of more than three
hundred steps, and for the last eighteen feet there were only holes
into which to insert the toes.[1436] By showing a bold front, friendly
relations were established with the inhabitants of this formidable
stronghold, who numbered some two hundred fighting men, and a large
supply of provisions was received from them. Three days’ march farther
brought them to a province called Tiguex, containing twelve villages
situated on the banks of a great river.[1437] The presence in the party
of Bigotes, who was a renowned warrior well known in all that region,
conciliated the favor of the people of Tiguex; and the country pleased
Alvarado so much, that he sent a messenger to Coronado to persuade him
to make it his winter quarters.[1438] Continuing his journey, in five
days more he reached Cicuyé, which he found to be a strongly fortified
village of four-story terraced houses, built around a large square.
It was also protected by a low stone wall, and was capable of putting
five hundred warriors into the field.[1439] Here they were welcomed
with great demonstrations of friendship, and received many gifts of
turquoises, which were abundant in that country.[1440] While resting
here for several days they fell in with an Indian slave,—a native of
the region lying toward Florida, which De Soto afterward explored,—who
told them marvellous tales about the stores of gold and silver to be
found in the great cities of his own country.

[Illustration: THE BUFFALO (_after Thevet_).

[This is one of the earliest engravings—if not the earliest—of the
buffalo, occurring on folio 144 _verso_, of Thevet’s _Les Singularitez
de la France Antarctique_, Antwerp, 1558. Davis (_Spanish Conquest of
New Mexico_, p. 67) says Cabeza de Vaca is the earliest to mention the
buffalo.—ED.]]

This man they named “the Turk,” from his resemblance to men of that
nation; and such implicit credence did they place in his stories,
that after penetrating a little way into the plains under his
guidance,—where for the first time they saw the bisons, with whose
skins they had become familiar,—they retraced their steps in order to
bring this information to Coronado. On reaching Tiguex, Alvarado found
Cardenas there, who had been sent on by the General, in accordance with
his advice, to prepare winter quarters for the army now on its march
from Sonora. Alvarado accordingly decided to remain in that province
and wait for the coming of the army; but in making their preparations
for its comfort the Spaniards showed very little consideration for the
natives, forcing them to abandon one of their villages, taking only the
clothes that they were wearing.

[Illustration: SKETCH OF THE BUFFALO.

[By the kindness of the Rev. Edward E. Hale, D. D., a tracing by
him from a sketch made about 1599 by order of Oñate, and by his
Sergeant-Major Vincente de Galdivia Mendoza, is here copied. The
original is inscribed, “Trasunto de como son las Bacos de Gibola.” See
_ante_, p. 477, note.—ED.]]

By this time Arellano had arrived at Cibola, coming from Sonora; and to
him Coronado once more intrusted the command of the main force, with
instructions for it to rest twenty days at Cibola, and then to proceed
direct to Tiguex. He himself, having heard of a province containing
eight towns called Tutahaco, took a party of his hardiest men and set
out to explore it. On his way thither, which took the direction of
the route to Tiguex, for two days and a half they were without water,
and were forced to seek for it in a chain of snow-covered mountains.
After eight days’ march they reached this place, and there they heard
of other villages situated still farther down the river. The people
were found to be a friendly race, dwelling in buildings constructed
of earth, like those at Tiguex, which province Coronado reached by
following up the course of the river.[1441]

On his arrival there he found Alvarado and the Turk, who repeated his
story about the marvellous wealth to be found in his country, adding
many fanciful embellishments,—which were the more readily believed,
as he was able to distinguish copper from gold. He pretended that the
people of Cicuyé had taken some gold bracelets from him when they made
him prisoner, and Coronado accordingly sent Alvarado back to Cicuyé to
reclaim them. The people there received him again in a friendly way,
but denied all knowledge of the gold bracelets, and declared the Turk
to be a liar. Upon this, Alvarado threw the chief men of the town and
Bigotes into chains and brought them to Tiguex, where they were kept
prisoners more than six months, to the great grief and indignation of
the natives, who endeavored in vain to rescue them. This affair did
much to discredit the Spaniards in the estimation of the natives, whom
their subsequent harsh treatment soon stirred up to active resistance.

After the twenty days had expired, Arellano and the army started for
Tiguex, passing on their way the rock of Acuco, which many of the
Spaniards ascended to enjoy the view,—but with great difficulty,
although the native women accomplished it easily, carrying their
water-jars. They had rested, after their first day’s march, at the
finest town in all the province, where were private houses seven
stories high. Here it began to snow. It was now early in December
(1540), and for ten days of their journey the snow fell every night.
But there was wood in plenty for their fires, and they did not suffer,
even finding the snow a protection. But when they reached the village
in the province of Tiguex, where their winter quarters had been
prepared, they forgot all their past toils in listening to the delusive
fables told them by the Turk. The whole province, however, was found
to be in a state of revolt, occasioned by the severity of exactions
imposed by Coronado in his anxiety for the comfort of his men, together
with the brutality of officers and soldiers alike in carrying out his
orders. The General had made requisition for three hundred pieces of
cloth; and without allowing time for the natives to allot their several
proportions to the different villages to complete the amount, the
soldiers stripped the garments off whomsoever they met, without regard
to rank or condition, and had added to the injury by offering violence
to the women. The people of one of the villages had slain one of the
Indian allies and driven off several of the horses, whereupon Coronado
had sent Cardenas with the greater part of the force to attack it; and
only after more than twenty-four hours of hard fighting, and when many
of the Spaniards had been wounded by arrows, were the defenders at last
forced to surrender by a device of the Indian allies, who drove a mine
into the lower portion of the houses, and filled them with the smoke
of burning combustibles. By an act of base treachery they were put to
death after having been promised quarter; and at once the report was
spread far and wide that the Spaniards were violators of their solemn
engagements.

It was just at the time of the capture of this village that the main
body of the army arrived; and then the snow began to fall and continued
to do so for two months, so that it was impossible to undertake any new
enterprise. Attempts were made, however, to conciliate the natives;
but they refused to place any confidence in the representations made
to them Force was thereupon resorted to; and Cardenas, after an
ineffectual attempt upon one of the villages, came near losing his life
by treachery before the principal town of Tiguex, to which Coronado
finally determined to lay regular siege. This lasted for fifty days,
during which the besieged suffered greatly from want of water; and
finally, in attempting to escape by night they were discovered, and
a great many of them were driven into the river and perished. The
Spaniards themselves suffered considerably, more than twenty being
wounded by arrows, several of whom died from bad medical treatment.
Two of the officers perished,—one killed in battle, the other taken
prisoner and carried into the town.[1442]

During the siege Coronado himself made a brief visit to Cicuyé, for
the purpose of examining the country and restoring to his home the
chieftain whom Alvarado had brought away. At this time he promised to
set Bigotes also at liberty, when he should pass by the place on his
way to the rich countries which the Turk had told about. This delighted
the people, and he returned to the camp before Tiguex, leaving them in
a very friendly state of mind toward him.

About this time there arrived messengers from Alcarraz and the colony
at Sonora, bringing information of the death of Melchior Diaz, and
of the disorderly condition prevailing there. Coronado immediately
despatched Tobar to take command at that place, and to escort the
messengers whom he sent to the Viceroy to report what had already been
accomplished and the marvellous information received from the Turk.
Tobar soon found himself involved in hostilities with the natives, and
lost seventeen of his men by their poisoned arrows. Not feeling himself
sufficiently secure at Sonora, he transferred the colony to the valley
of Suya, forty leagues nearer to Cibola; and not long afterward he
received orders from Coronado to rejoin the army with the best of his
force.

When the siege was over, an expedition was sent out to receive the
submission of the people of Chia, a large town situated four leagues
west of the river, in whose charge were left four bronze cannon which
were in a bad condition. Another expedition was equally successful in a
province of seven villages called Quirex.[1443]

For four months the river had been closed by ice strong enough to bear
a horse; but now it had melted, and Coronado prepared to start for
the lands called Quivira, Arche, and the country of the Guyas, which
the Turk declared abounded to a greater or less degree with gold and
silver. Many of the Spaniards, however, began to have their suspicions
about these fine stories.

The army left Tiguex, April 23, 1541,[1444] for Cicuyé, twenty-five
leagues distant; and with them went Bigotes, who was set at liberty
on arriving there, to the great joy of his countrymen. Provisions in
abundance were supplied by them, besides a guide, named Xabe, a native
of Quivira, who confirmed to some extent the stories of the Turk. On
quitting Cicuyé they immediately entered the mountains, and after four
days’ march came to a broad river over which they were forced to build
a bridge, which occupied four days more.[1445] From here they journeyed
in a direction north-northeast over the plains, and in a few days fell
in with immense herds of bisons. At first there were only bulls, but
some days later they came upon the cows and calves; and at this time,
after seventeen days’ march, they came upon a band of nomads called
Querechos, busy in the pursuit of the animals. This people dwelt in
tents made of tanned bison-skins stretched around poles planted in the
earth and fastened above and below. They possessed large packs of dogs,
by whom the tents were transported, and obtained their whole sustenance
by hunting the bison. Castañeda relates that on one occasion he saw
an arrow driven completely through the body of one of these animals.
The Querechos were intelligent and perfectly fearless, but friendly;
and by signs they confirmed what the Turk had said, adding that to the
eastward was a large river whose banks were thickly inhabited, and that
the nearest village was called Haxa. Two days’ march farther on, the
same tribe was again met, and they said that the villages lay still
more to the east.

As the Turk now represented that Haxa was only two days’ march distant,
Diego Lopez was sent in advance, with ten light-armed men, to explore
it; while the army, continuing on in the same direction, fell in with
an innumerable quantity of bisons, and lost several horses in chasing
them. Lopez, after marching twenty leagues without seeing anything
but the sky and the bisons, was at last brought back by the friendly
natives; and his ill success contributed still more to discredit the
Turk. One of the force, a native of Quivira named Sopete, had given
quite different information about the route; and Coronado therefore
sent out another exploring party under Rodrigo Maldonado, who came
to a village in a great ravine, where a blind old man gave them to
understand by signs that a long while before he had seen four of
their countrymen: these were believed to be Cabeza de Vaca and his
companions.[1446] This people were very friendly, and gave to the
Spaniards a great quantity of tanned skins and other objects, including
a tent as large as a house. Forthwith a messenger was despatched to
bring the whole body of the soldiers to this spot, who, on arriving,
proceeded at once to divide the skins among themselves, to the great
chagrin of the natives, who had supposed that they would only bless
the skins, as Cabeza de Vaca had done, and then return them. While the
army was resting here there came a terrible storm, in which hailstones
fell of such enormous size as would have done great mischief if it had
been encountered in the open plain. A party sent out to reconnoitre
came upon another wandering tribe, called Teyas, who conducted the
army for three days’ march to their town, which was called Cona. This
people were hostile to the Querechos, and had their faces and bodies
painted; and from them guides were procured, who were not permitted to
have any communication with the Turk. These confirmed what Sopete had
said, that Quivira lay some forty days’ march in a northerly direction;
and they led the way to another great valley, a league broad, watered
by a little stream, where were vines and fruit-trees in abundance;
and here the army rested some time. As it had now become evident that
the Turk had deceived them, and as their supply of food began to run
short, Coronado called a council of war, at which it was decided that
he should take thirty of the bravest and best mounted horsemen and push
on in search of Quivira, and that the rest of the army should return to
Tiguex, under the command of Arellano. This decision, however, was not
well received by the soldiers, who besought their General not to leave
them, declaring that they were ready to die with him. But Coronado
would not yield to their wishes, and set out with his party, promising
to send back word in eight days if they might rejoin him.

The army waited fifteen days, during which they killed a large number
of bisons; but several of their number lost the way and were never
found, although cannon were fired and every means taken to recover
them. Then messengers arrived repeating the order to return to Tiguex,
and they quitted the valley for the country of the Teyas. This nomadic
people knew the region perfectly, and supplied them with guides, by
whom they were conducted back in twenty-five days to the river of
Cicuyé, which they struck more than thirty leagues below where they
had built the bridge, passing on their way great salt marshes. The
guides told them that the river flowed toward the east, and fell into
the river of Tiguex more than twenty days’ journey away. From this
point they marched up the river to Cicuyé, where they were no longer
well received by the inhabitants, who refused to furnish them with
provisions. Accordingly they returned to Tiguex, arriving about the
middle of July, 1541.

In the mean time Coronado, after marching in a northerly direction
over the plains for thirty days, came to a large river, which was
named for Saints Peter and Paul. All this time he and his men had lived
entirely upon the flesh of bisons, and often had only their milk to
drink. Sopete said there were villages farther down the river; and
accordingly he followed the northern bank for three days or more in a
northeasterly direction, until he came to one situated upon a branch
of the great river. Journeying for four or five days more, he reached
in succession six or seven other villages similarly situated, until
he arrived at one which he was told was called Quivira.[1447] Here
he heard of other villages still farther distant on the banks of a
yet larger river called Teucarea. Great was Coronado’s disappointment
at finding that Quivira, instead of being as he had been informed a
city of stone houses of many stories, consisted only of a collection
of straw-built huts, and that its people were the most barbarous of
any that he had hitherto encountered. They ate their meat raw, like
the Querechos and the Teyas, and were clad in tanned bison-skins,
not having any cotton; but they cultivated maize. The Turk, who had
for some time been conducted in chains with the rear-guard, was now
interrogated as to his motives in so misrepresenting the nature of the
country, and misleading the Spaniards. He replied that his own country
lay beyond Quivira, and that the people of Cibola had begged him to
lead the strangers astray upon the plains, so that they might perish
by famine, as it was supposed that they relied upon maize for their
food, and did not know how to chase the bison. One night he endeavored
to stir up the people of Quivira to massacre the Spaniards; but being
put upon their guard, the Spaniards strangled him, to the great delight
of Sopete. No gold or silver was found in the country; but one of
the chiefs wore a plate of copper suspended from his neck, by which
he set great store. Coronado says that Quivira was nine hundred and
fifty leagues distant from Mexico, and was situated in latitude 40°.
The soil was rich and black, watered by many streams, and bore an
abundance of grapes and plums.[1448] Here he remained for twenty-five
days, sending out exploring parties in all directions, who found great
difficulty in communicating with the natives, owing to the diversity
of languages spoken by them, and the want of interpreters. It was now
the latter part of July,[1449] and it was time to start to rejoin
the army at Tiguex. So, after collecting a supply of maize for the
journey, and erecting a cross with an inscription saying that Coronado
had been there, he procured fresh guides, leaving Sopete in his home,
and returned by the route he had come, as far as to the river named
for Saints Peter and Paul. At that point, bending more towards the
west, they reached the country where they had first fallen in with the
Querechos, and had been turned from the direct course by the Turk; and
in forty days they reached Cicuyé.

In the mean time, Arellano and the main portion of the force had been
making preparations for passing the winter at Tiguex, and had been
despatching parties in different directions to procure supplies of
provisions. One under Francisco de Barrio-Nuevo was sent in a northerly
direction up the river and visited two provinces, of which one, called
Hemez, contained seven villages; the other, named Yuque-Yunque, two
fine ones on the bank of the river, and four others strongly fortified
and difficult of access in the mountains.[1450] Twenty leagues
farther up the river was a large and powerful village called Braba,
to which the Spaniards gave the name of Valladolid. It was built on
both banks of a deep and rapid stream, which was crossed by a bridge
of well-squared pine timber; and contained large rooms that could be
heated, supported by huge pillars, superior to anything of the kind
that had been seen in the country.[1451] Another expedition was sent
down the river, as has been already related.

By this time some apprehension began to be felt for Coronado’s safety,
as the time fixed for his return had expired and nothing had yet
been heard from him. Accordingly Arellano started with a small party
in search of him, and at Cicuyé he was attacked by the inhabitants,
with whom he kept up a contest for four days. Tidings then came
from the General; and, contenting himself with guarding the passes,
Arellano waited there for his arrival. Coronado soon succeeded in
re-establishing friendly relations, and continued on immediately to
Tiguex. As soon as he reached that place he set about in earnest to
pacify the whole province, and to persuade the inhabitants to return to
their homes. The most strenuous exertions were made to procure a supply
of clothing for the troops, who were in great distress for it, and to
provide in every way for their comfort; so that Castañeda says, “Never
was Spanish general in the Indies more beloved or better obeyed than
he.” In the spring he promised his men that they should start again in
search of the unknown countries, about which the Turk had set their
imaginations on fire. The greater part were firm in the conviction that
the natives were familiar with gold, despite their assurances to the
contrary, and that they should find it in abundance. But it is plain
from Coronado’s report that he did not share in this belief; and the
sequel proved that others agreed with him. The region of Tiguex he
found far too cold and too distant from the sea to make it a desirable
situation for a colony.

About this time Tobar arrived with the reinforcements which, as we have
seen, he had been ordered to bring from the valley of Suya. He had
taken only the best soldiers, leaving many discontented and mutinous
ones behind; and these arrived in the full expectation of finding the
General already established in the rich countries about which the
marvellous reports had reached them. But their disappointment was
somewhat consoled when they learned that in the spring the whole army
would start in the search of them. Tobar had brought despatches from
the Viceroy, and private letters,—among them one informing Cardenas
that he had fallen heir to his elder brother’s estate. Cardenas
accordingly obtained leave to return to Mexico, and several others went
with him. Castañeda says that many more would have been glad to do so,
if they had not been restrained by fear of being accused of cowardice.
This shows the divided feeling that prevailed. And soon trouble arose
between the General, who studied only the welfare of the whole army,
and certain of the officers, who selfishly looked more after the
interests of their own men; so that some already began to talk of
abandoning the expedition and returning to New Spain.

When the winter was over, Coronado ordered preparations to be made to
start for Quivira, on the way to the unknown countries. But fate had
ordained a different termination for his enterprise. On a holiday,
while he was amusing himself by tilting at the ring with Maldonado,
Coronado’s saddle-girths broke, and he fell to the ground, where he
received a blow on the head from Maldonado’s horse, which nearly cost
him his life. A long illness followed, during which Cardenas suddenly
returned in haste from Suya, with the news that he had found that post
broken up and the inhabitants massacred. It seems that the discontented
element left behind by Tobar,—pretending that they had been abandoned,
and that the route for New Spain had left them on one side,—had
deserted Alcarraz and the sick men under his charge, and had fled to
Culiacan. Upon this the natives became insubordinate, and one night
made an attack upon the enfeebled force with poisoned arrows, killing
a number of them. The rest escaped on foot to Corazones, whose people,
always friendly to the Spaniards, aided them on their way to Culiacan,
where they, as well as the mutineers, were found by Gallegos not long
afterward, when he arrived there with reinforcements.

The news of this calamity was so afflicting to Coronado that he grew
worse, or, as Castañeda intimates, feigned to do so, as he had allowed
himself to give way to the influence of superstitious terrors. In his
youth the prediction had been made that he would become lord of a
distant land, and that he would lose his life there by a fall. This
now seemed to him to be in the way of accomplishment, and he longed
to return to die with his wife and children. The surgeon had kept him
informed of the discontent that prevailed among a portion of his force,
and he accordingly took secret counsel with certain of the officers,
in which it was agreed that they should persuade their men to present
a petition, praying that they might be allowed to return to New Spain.
A council of war was then held, at which the conclusion was reached
that the country was neither sufficiently rich nor populous to make
it worth the holding. Coronado thereupon issued the necessary orders
for the return march. Some of the officers, however, repented of their
decision, and asked the General to give them sixty picked men, with
which to maintain themselves until reinforcements should be sent by
the Viceroy; or for him to take that number of men for his escort,
and leave the command of the expedition to some other person. But the
army would not listen to either of these propositions, as they had no
inclination to make the trial of any new commander. The consequence was
that the zeal and affection of some of the officers for their chief
disappeared, though that of the men still held firm.

It was in the early part of April, 1542, that the army began its return
march to New Spain. Two of the missionaries remained behind, in the
hope of making proselytes of the natives. One of them, a lay brother
named Luis, remained at Cicuyé; the other, Juan de Padilla, who had
led the charge at Tusayan, continued on to Quivira with some native
converts; where, in the words of Castañeda, he speedily “received the
martyr’s crown.” To better insure the safety of the priests, Coronado
ordered his men to set at liberty their native slaves, and then started
for Cibola. On the journey thither the horses, which thus far had
kept in excellent condition, began to die in great numbers. The army
accordingly rested a while there before entering upon the desert lying
between that place and Chichilticalli; and some Christianized Indians
from Mexico remained behind at Cibola, where they were found by Antonio
de Espejo, forty-one years afterward, in 1583.[1452]

The crossing of the desert was uneventful, and two days after they
reached Chichilticalli, Gallegos arrived there from the Viceroy with
reinforcements of men and munitions of war. Great was his dismay
at finding the army on its way back, and all the splendid visions
dissipated that the Turk had conjured up. Those of the officers who had
offered to remain and hold the country until the Viceroy’s commands
should be received, now renewed their proposition; but the soldiers
refused to return, and clamored to be led back to New Spain. Coronado
found himself powerless to constrain them, even if he possessed the
inclination to do so; nor was his authority sufficient to enable him to
inflict any punishment upon the deserters who had abandoned Alcarraz
at Suya. During the march, Castañeda says that Coronado kept up the
fiction of being ill, and only allowed his intimates access to his
person. The natives, seeing that the country was being abandoned by the
Spaniards, kept up a succession of hostile encounters, in which several
of the force perished. As provisions began to fail, the army hastened
on to Petatlan, thirty leagues from Culiacan, the seat of Coronado’s
government. All the bonds of discipline had now become relaxed, and
even his authority there as governor was not sufficient to reinforce
it; but by begging his friends to use their influence with the men, he
was able to bring about one hundred of the force back with himself to
Mexico. Here he was received but coolly by the Viceroy, Mendoza; his
reputation was gone, and soon after he was deprived of his position as
Governor of New Gallicia.

Such was the end of an expedition which, as General Simpson says, “for
extent in distance travelled, duration in time, and the multiplicity of
its co-operating expeditions, equalled, if it did not exceed, any land
expedition that has been undertaken in modern times.”[1453]

CRITICAL ESSAY ON THE SOURCES OF INFORMATION.

THE original sources of information in regard to the early Spanish
explorations of New Mexico have been made available for students within
the last thirty years by the publication of several collections of
documents, preserved either in Mexico or in the Archivo de Indias,
at Seville, or in the great national repository at Simancas. The
first to appear was the one entitled _Documentos para la historia de
Mejico_, published by order of the Mexican Government between 1853 and
1857.[1454] This is distributed into four series, of which the third
and the fourth contain important historical material bearing upon this
subject. Next came the well-selected _Coleccion de varios documentos
para la historia de la Florida y tierras adyacentes_, undertaken by
the late Buckingham Smith, of which, however, only the first volume
appeared in Madrid, in 1857.[1455] Then Joaquin Garcia Icazbalceta, the
accomplished translator of Prescott’s _Conquest of Peru_, published in
Mexico a valuable _Coleccion de documentos para la historia de México_,
in two volumes, the first in 1858 and the second in 1866.[1456] But by
far the most important of all is the great _Coleccion de documentos
inéditos relativos al descubrimiento, conquista y colonizacion de las
posesiones Españolas en América y Oceanía, sacados en su mayor parte
del real Archivo de Indias_. Forty volumes of this indispensable
repertory have already appeared at Madrid, between 1864 and 1884,
edited by Joaquin Francesco Pacheco and other scholars.[1457] A most
essential service, however, had been rendered to the students of
early American history at a still earlier date by the publication
of Henri Ternaux-Compans’ admirable series of _Voyages, relations,
et mémoires originaux pour servir à l’histoire de la découverte de
l’Amérique, publiés pour la première fois en Français_, of which
twenty parts appeared in Paris between 1837 and 1841.[1458] Prior to
this our knowledge had been mainly restricted to Italian translations
of original narratives published by Giovanni Battista Ramusio in the
third volume of his _Navigationi et Viaggi_, Venice, 1556 (reprinted
in 1565 and subsequently); of most of which Richard Hakluyt has given
an English version in the third volume of his _Voyages, nauigations,
traffiques, and discoueries_, London, 1600 (reprinted in 1810).

The different expeditions, in their chronological order, may now be
studied in the following original authorities:—

An account of the expedition of Nuño Beltran de Guzman to Ciguatan is
contained in the _Primera_ (_segunda_) (_tercera_) (_quarta_) _relacion
anonima de la jornada que hizo Nuño de Guzman à la Nueva Galicia_,
in Icazbalceta’s _Coleccion_, vol. ii. pp. 288-306; 439-483. Other
narratives can be found in Pacheco’s _Documentos Inéditos_, tom. xiv.,
pp. 347-373, and 411-463; tom. xvi., pp. 363-375. De Guzman first
conquered and then colonized Sinaloa, and even penetrated into Sonora,
thus preparing the way for the subsequent explorations. Very little
information, however, about New Mexico is to be obtained from any of
these narratives.

Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca published his remarkable story at Zamora in
1542, under the title: _La relacion que dio Aluar Nuñez Cabeça de Vaca
de lo acaescido en las Indias en la armada donde yua por gouernador
Páphilo de Narbaez, desde el año de veynte y siete hasta el año de
treynta y seys que boluio a Sevilla con tres de su compañia_.[1459]
Notwithstanding the vivid interest that will always attach to this
thrilling story of adventure and suffering, the indications given in it
of the routes by which he journeyed, and of the places and peoples he
visited, are practically of far too vague a character to enable them
to be satisfactorily identified,[1460] even if we feel warranted in
placing implicit confidence in the author’s veracity.

The original report by Fray Marcos de Nizza (of Nice) of his
_Descubrimiento de las Siete Ciudades_, can be found in Pacheco’s
_Documentos inéditos_, tom. iii. p. 329; and the instructions received
by him from the Viceroy Mendoza are given on p. 325 of the same
volume. An Italian translation of the report is contained in Ramusio,
_Navigationi_, vol. iii. p. 356 (ed. of 1565); and from this was made
the English version in Hakluyt, _Voyages_, vol. iii. p. 438 (ed. of
1810). But on comparing both Ramusio’s and Hakluyt’s versions with
the original, not only will it be found that in many places they are
mere paraphrases, but that frequently additional particulars have been
foisted into the text. Especially noticeable are the many exaggerated
statements in regard to the quantities of gold and of precious stones
seen by the monk during his journey, or about which stories are told
to him by the natives, for which there is not a vestige of authority
to be found in the original. Fray Marcos claims to have related what
he himself saw or what was told to him; but it is evident not only
that he was prone to lend a credulous ear to whatever fictions might
be imposed upon him, but that he grossly misrepresented what he had
himself seen. This is directly charged upon him by those who followed
in his footsteps under Coronado, and who suffered grievously by reason
of his falsifications; so that he was even compelled to flee to Mexico
to escape the consequences of their just indignation. We think that
he fairly deserves the epithet of “the lying monk,” which has been
bestowed upon him, in spite of the air of probability which pervades
the greater part of his narrative. But it must in justice be said,
however, that he appears rather to have been carried away by religious
enthusiasm than actuated by any personal or mercenary considerations;
and with the hope of being able to convert the natives to Christianity,
he invested them and their surroundings with the glow of his own
imagination. Still, this need not militate against the truth of his
statements in regard to the distances he travelled, or the physical
characteristics of the regions through which his route lay; so that his
narrative will always be important for the students of the topography,
if not of the ethnology, of New Mexico at the period of its discovery.

Ternaux-Compans (_Voyages, etc._, vol. ix. p. 256) has made a most
faithful French translation, from copies of the originals at Simancas,
of Fray Marcos’s report, and of the letter from Mendoza to the Emperor
Charles V., which accompanied it, as well as of the instructions
received by the Friar from Mendoza.

The story of Coronado’s romantic expedition in search of “The Seven
Cities of Cibola” has been told with more or less of detail by four
different persons who took part in it. We have also three of his own
letters and despatches narrating his earlier proceedings. Of these,
the first is a brief one, written to the Viceroy Mendoza, dated
Culiacan, March 8, 1539, transmitting a report received from Fray
Marcos while upon his journey. An English version of this can be found
in Hakluyt, _Voyages_, vol. iii. p. 434 (ed. of 1810), translated from
Ramusio, _Navigationi_, vol. iii. p. 395 (ed. of 1565); and a French
translation, in Ternaux-Compans, vol. ix. p. 349. Next comes a short
letter to the Viceroy dated April 10, 1539, in which he tells about the
preparations for his ineffectual expedition to Topira; Hakluyt, p. 352;
Ramusio, p. 435; Ternaux-Compans, p. 352. Of much greater importance,
however, is the full report transmitted by him to Mendoza from Cibola
(or Granada, as he called it), August 3, 1540, setting forth everything
that had occurred between that date and April 22, when he had started.
An Italian version of this is given by Ramusio, Navigationi, vol. iii.
p. 359 (ed. of 1565); _Relatione de Francisco Vazquez de Coronado del
viagio alle dette setta cita_. An English translation can be found in
Hakluyt, _Voyages_, vol. iii. p. 446 (ed. of 1810). Finally, there is
the letter which he wrote to the Emperor Charles V., from Tiguex, after
his return from Quivira, in which is related the course of events from
April 23, 1541, up to October 20 of the same year. This can be found
in Pacheco’s _Documentos inéditos_, tom. iii. p. 363; and it has been
repeated in tom. xiii. p. 261. A French translation of it is given in
the _Voyages_ of Ternaux-Compans, vol. ix. p. 355.

The four narratives by other pens are—

1. An anonymous _Relacion del suceso de la jornada que Francisco
Vazquez hizo en el descubrimiento de Cibola_, contained in Buckingham
Smith’s _Coleccion de varios documentos_, p. 147. This was afterwards
printed in Pacheco’s _Documentos inéditos_, tom. xiv. p. 318, but with
the erroneous date of 1531, instead of 1541.

2. A second anonymous account, entitled _Traslado de las nuevas
y noticias que dieron sobre el descobrimiento de una Cibdad que
llamaron de Cibola, situada en la Tierra Nueva_, can also be found in
_Documentos inéditos_, tom. xix. p. 529, with the same error in the
date.

3. Of much greater value is the _Relacion que dió el Capitan Joan
Jaramillo, de la jornada que hizo à la tierra nueva de la que fué
General Francisco Vazquez de Coronado_; of which a French translation
was first published by Ternaux-Compans, in his _Voyages_, etc.,
vol. ix. p. 364. The original was afterwards printed in Buckingham
Smith’s _Coleccion_, p. 155, and subsequently in Pacheco’s _Documentos
inéditos_, tom. xiv. p. 304, but under the erroneous date of 1537. It
is a straightforward, soldierly narrative, well written, and with many
picturesque details, and it contains an unusual amount of topographical
information; so that it is of great value in establishing the route
followed by the expedition, and in identifying the various localities.

4. But if our knowledge of the expedition had been confined to the
authorities thus far indicated, we should have had a very imperfect
idea both of its events and of its results. In 1838 Ternaux-Compans
published a translation into French of a quarto manuscript, of 157
leaves, which he had found in the Uguina Collection, at Paris, under
the title _Relation du Voyage de Cibola enterpris in 1540; ou l’on
traite de toutes les peuplades qui habitent cette contrée, de leurs
mœurs et coutumes, par Pédro de Castañeda de Nagera_ (_Voyages_, vol.
ix. p. 1). Nothing has been discovered in relation to this writer
except what is contained in his own account. He states that he “wrote
his narrative in the city of Culiacan, where he was living in the
midst of misery and dangers, as the whole country was in a state of
insurrection” (p. 233). The volume bears the indorsement, “Finished
copying at Seville, Oct. 26, 1596.” As his name is not mentioned in the
list of officers which he has given, it is supposed that he was only
a private soldier. The work shows that he was a man of considerable
education, but it is evidently the production of a novice in the art
of literary composition. It is an attempt at a methodical narrative,
divided into three parts, but it is quite difficult to follow in it
the order of events. In the first part he treats of the incidents of
the expedition, and of the army and its officers; the second contains
a description of the provinces, villages, and mountains that were
discovered, of the religion and customs of the inhabitants, and of
the animals, fruits, and vegetables to be found; and in the last part
he tells about the return of the army, and explains the reasons for
abandoning the attempt at colonization. As he wrote more than twenty
years after the events he has described, he sometimes signifies his
inability to remember precisely the number of miles travelled, or of
the days during which they journeyed. He has even fallen into the error
of making the day on which the expedition entered Campostello, Shrove
Tuesday, 1541 (p. 24), although he gives the correct date, 1540, in
the _Dedicatory Epistle_ (p. xiv). Throughout his entire narrative,
whenever he gives the date of the year, it is always one too large,
as can be seen on pp. 101, 137, and 213. He professes to have written
for the purpose of correcting the many misrepresentations and fables
that had sprung up in regard to the country they had discovered, and
the character of the people, and the nature of the animals to be found
there. Castañeda impresses the reader as a religious, humane, and
candid man, who cannot fail to win his confidence in the truth of the
events he relates. He does not hesitate to expose and to comment upon
the cruel and rapacious acts of his own countrymen; and he does full
justice both to the natural amiability and to the valor of the natives.
His various observations show him to have been a man of sagacity and
good judgment. Mr. Bandelier vouches for the remarkable accuracy of
his description of the country, although the distances generally are
estimated one third too great (_Historical Introduction to Studies
among the Sedentary Indians of New Mexico_, p. 22). The Castañeda MS.
is now in the Lenox library.

These are all the original sources of knowledge in regard to the
earliest attempts at exploration in New Mexico by the Spaniards, and
especially respecting Coronado’s expedition to the Seven Cities of
Cibola. The historians of Mexico, from Gomara down, while adding no new
information to that detailed by Castañeda, are in agreement with him as
to the general facts.

Renewed attention was directed to Coronado’s expedition and to the
probable locality of Cibola by the publication of the reports contained
in the _Notes of a Military Reconnoissance made by Lieut.-Colonel
William H. Emory, in 1846-1847, with the advance guard of the army of
the West_, during the war between the United States and Mexico,[1461]
and the _Report of Lieutenant J. W. Abert of his examination of New
Mexico_. Colonel Emory, in a letter to Hon. Albert Gallatin, dated Oct.
8, 1847, made the statement that he had met with “an Indian race living
in four-story houses, built upon rocky promontories, inaccessible to
a savage foe, cultivating the soil, and answering the description of
the seven cities of Coronado, except in their present insignificance
in size and population, and the fact that the towns, though near each
other, are not in a (continuous) valley six leagues long, but on
different branches of the same stream” (p. 133). He had in mind the
villages in the vicinity of Ciboletta, Laguna, etc., on the Rio San
Jose, a tributary of the Rio Grande del Norte, about ninety miles east
of the present Zuñi pueblo. This opinion was corroborated by Lieutenant
Abert (p. 491). Mr. Gallatin thereupon proceeded to prepare for the
_Transactions of the American Ethnological Society_ (vol. ii. p. liii,
1848) an elaborate essay on the _Ancient semi-civilization of New
Mexico, Rio Gila, and its vicinity_, in which large use was made of
these military reports, and to which was prefixed a map compiled by
Mr. E. G. Squier. In November of the same year Mr. Squier contributed
to the _American Review_ an article on _New Mexico and California.
The ancient monuments and the aboriginal semi-civilized nations of
New Mexico and California, with an abstract of the early Spanish
explorations and conquests in those regions, particularly those falling
within the territory of the United States_. Mr. Gallatin came to the
conclusion that the seven cities “appear to have been near the sources
of a tributary of the great Colorado, and not of the Rio del Norte” (p.
lxxii); but he inclined to the opinion that they had been destroyed
by the Apaches (p. xciv). Mr. Squier identified Cibola with Zuñi; but
there are inconsistencies to be found between his map and statements
contained in his article. In that same year Lieutenant J. H. Simpson,
in his _Journal of a Military Reconnoissance from Santa Fé to the
Navajo Country_,[1462] gave a detailed description of Zuñi, which he
considered to be the site of Cibola.

The explorations carried on in New Mexico and Arizona, from 1853 to
1856, during the search for a suitable route for the Pacific Railroad,
took Lieutenant A. W. Whipple and Professor W. W. Turner over the same
ground, and they both came to a similar conclusion (_Pacific Railroad
Reports_, vol. iii. pp. 68, 104). But in 1857 Mr. H. M. Breckenridge
published at Pittsburg a brief narrative of the _Early discoveries by
Spaniards in New Mexico, containing an account of the castles of Cibola
and the present appearance of their ruins_, in which he maintained that
Cibola was the well-known ruin called Casa Grande, on the river Gila.
Mr. R. H. Kern, however, upheld the Zuñi theory in his map, prepared in
1854 to accompany Schoolcraft’s _History of the Indian Tribes of North
America_ (vol. iv. p. 33); and Mr. Schoolcraft himself adopted the same
view (vol. vi. p. 70, 1857).

In the year 1869 important additions were made to our knowledge
of the early history of New Mexico, and especially of Coronado’s
expedition. Mr. W. H. H. Davis, who had held an official position in
that Territory, and in 1856 had published an interesting study of it
under the title of _El Gringo_, gave to the world the first history
of _The Spanish Conquest of New Mexico_, Doylestown, Penn. In the
same year Brevet Brigadier General Simpson, who had had his attention
directed to the question twenty years previously, prepared for the
_Annual Report of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution for
1869_ a thorough study, accompanied by a map, of _Coronado’s March
in search of the “Seven Cities of Cibola,” and discussion of their
probable location_.[1463] In April of the same year there appeared
in the _North American Review_ an article by the late Mr. Lewis H.
Morgan, entitled _The Seven Cities of Cibola_, in which that eminent
archæologist made an elaborate argument in favor of the identification
of that site with the remarkable group of ruined stone structures,
discovered not long before in the valley of the Rio Chaco, one of the
affluents of the Colorado, about one hundred miles to the northeast
of Zuñi. On this point, however, both Mr. Davis (p. 119) and General
Simpson have pronounced in favor of Zuñi, and General Simpson has even
undertaken to answer Mr. Morgan’s arguments in detail (p. 232). Mr.
Morgan, nevertheless, still held to his opinion in his _Study of the
houses of the American Aborigines_, p. 46 (_First annual report of the
Archæological Institute of America_, 1880) expanded into the _House and
House-life of the American Aborigines_ (Geographical and Geological
Survey of the Rocky Mountain region, in charge of J. W. Powell, vol.
iv., 1881, pp. 167-170).

_The Spanish Conquest of New Mexico_, by Mr. Davis, is a valuable
contribution to history, in which faithful and diligent use has been
made of the original authorities and of unpublished documents; and it
is the only full and connected narrative that has yet appeared of the
series of events which it relates. The important episode to which
General Simpson confines his attention is treated in abundant detail,
and great acuteness and local knowledge are displayed in the discussion
of the route followed by Coronado. It is likely to remain always the
leading authority upon this subject.

In his elaborate work upon _The Native Races of the Pacific States_,
Mr. H. H. Bancroft adopted the Zuñi theory as to the site of Cibola
(vol. iv. p. 674), repeated in his _History of the Pacific States_
(vol. x. p. 85).[1464] This is also the opinion maintained by Mr. A.
F. Bandelier in his _Historical Introduction to Studies among the
Sedentary Indians of New Mexico_, p. 12 (_Papers of the Archæological
Institute of America._ American series, no. 1, Boston, 1881). This is
a very careful and thorough investigation of the whole subject of the
geography of New Mexico and of the tribal relations of its inhabitants.

At a meeting, however, of the American Antiquarian Society in April,
1881, Rev. E. E. Hale read a paper entitled _Coronado’s Discovery
of the Seven Cities_, in which he expressed himself as inclined to
abandon his previously maintained opinion[1465] in favor of the Zuñi
identification, on account of certain newly discovered evidence set
forth in an accompanying letter from Lieutenant J. G. Bourke, who
argued that the Moqui pueblos better satisfy the conditions of the
question. To this the present writer replied in a communication at the
following October meeting of the society, under the title _What is the
true site of “The Seven Cities of Cibola” visited by Coronado in 1540?_
In this all the different opinions are discussed and the Zuñi theory
upheld.

The same view is supported by Mr. L. Bradford Prince, late
Chief-Justice of New Mexico, in his _Historical Sketches of New
Mexico from the earliest records to the American occupation_, 1883
(p. 115). This modest little volume is the first attempt yet made to
write a continuous history of the Territory down to the year 1847.
It is a useful and in the main a trustworthy compendium. But in the
chapter upon Coronado he has followed Castañeda’s erroneous dates, as
Davis also has done before him, and he has fallen into a few other
mistakes.[1466]

EDITORIAL NOTE.

IN the _Don Diego de Peñalosa y su descubrimiento del reino de Quivira_
of Cesário Fernández Duro, published at Madrid in 1882, there is an
enumeration (pp. 123-144) of the expeditions organized in New Spain
for exploration towards the north. The following list, with the chief
sources of information, is taken from this book:

=1523.= Francisco de Garay to Pánuco. _Documentos inéditos_ (Pacheco),
xxvi. 77.

=1526.= Garay and Nuño de Guzman to Pánuco, _MS._ in Archivo de Indias.

=1530.= Nuño de Guzman to New Galicia. _Doc. inéd._ (Pacheco) xiv. 411;
also xiii. and xvi. (see chap. vi. of the present History, _ante_, p.
441 and chap. vii. p. 499).

=1531.= Coronado to Cibola. _Doc. inéd._ (Pacheco), xiv. 318; xix. 529.
(See chap. vii.)

=1533.= Diego de Guzman to Sinaloa, _Doc. inéd._ (Navarrete); B.
Smith’s _Coleccion_, 94.

=1536.= Cabeça de Vaca. _Doc. inéd._ (Pacheco), xiv. (See chap. iv.)

=1537.= Coronado to Amatepeque. _Muñoz’s MSS._ in Madrid Acad. of Hist.
lxxxi., fol. 34.

=1539.= Fray Marcos de Nizza to Cibola. _Muñoz MSS._; _Ramusio_;
_Ternaux-Compans_; _Doc. inéd._ (Pacheco), iii. 325, 351.

=1539.= Coronado to Cibola. (See chap. vii.)

=1539.= Hernando de Soto. (See chap. iv.)

=1540.= Melchior Diaz. (See chap. vii.)

=1540.= Hernando de Alvarado and Juan de Padilla to the South Sea.
_Doc. inéd._ (Pacheco), iii. 511; B. Smith, 65. (See chap. vii.)

=1540=. Gomez Ariaz and Diego Maldonado along Gulf of Mexico.
Garcilasso de la Vega, _La Florida del Inca_.

=1541.= Coronado to Tiguex. _Doc. inéd._ (Pacheco), iii. 363; xiii.
261. (See chap. vii.)

=1548.= Juan de Tolosa, one of the captains serving under Cortés.
=1554.= Francisco de Ibarra to Copala, New Biscay, etc. _Doc. inéd._
(Pacheco), xiv. 463.

=1558.= Guido de Lavazares to Pánuco and Florida.

=1559.= Tristán de Arellano to the Coast of Florida, and river Espiritu
Santo. _Doc. inéd._ (Pacheco), iv. 136, xiii. 280.

=1563.= Diego Ibarra to Copala. _Doc. inéd._ (Pacheco), xiv. 553.

=1566.= Juan Pardo to Florida. _Doc. inéd._ (Pacheco), iv. 560.

=1568.= Francisco Cano to New Mexico, _Doc. inéd._ (Pacheco), xix. 535.

=1569.= Juan de Orozco on New Gallicia, with map. _Doc. inéd._
(Pacheco), ii. 561.

=1575.= Juan de Miranda on the Country. _Doc. inéd._ (Pacheco), xvi.
563.

=1581.= Francisco Sanchez Chamuscado to New Mexico and Cibola.

=1581.= Fray Francisco Ruiz among the Indians.

=1582.= To New Mexico. _Cartas de Indias_, 230.

=1582.= Antonio de Espejo to New Mexico. Juan Gonzáles de Mendoza’s
_Historia del Reino de China_, Madrid, 1589; De Laet’s _Novus Orbis_.

=1583.= Cristóbal Martin to New Mexico. _Doc. inéd._ (Pacheco), xvi.
277.

=1584.= Antonio de Espejo’s continued discoveries. _Doc. inéd._
(Pacheco), xv. 151.

=1589.= Juan Battista de Lomas Colmenares agrees to settle New Mexico.
_Doc. inéd._ (Pacheco), xv. 54.

=1590.= Gaspar Castaño de Sosa, Governor of New Leon, to New Mexico.
_Doc. inéd._ (Pacheco), iv. 283; xv. 191.

=1596.= Sebastian Viscaino on the Coast.

=1598.= Juan de Oñate to New Mexico. Bustamante, _Los Tres Siglos
de México_; _Doc. inéd._ (Pacheco), xvi. 88, 306, 316-320. Of his
expedition to the Pueblo of Acomo, Luis Tribaldo of Toledo sent an
account to Hakluyt in 1603, and extracts from it are published in De
Laet’s _Novus Orbis_.

=1599.= Juan de Humaña to Quivira.

Others are noted from 1600 to 1783. Captain George M. Wheeler, U.
S. Geological Survey, is preparing a Chronology of the Voyages and
Explorations to the West Coast and the interior of North America
between 1500 and 1800.

The alleged expedition of Peñalosa to Quivira is placed about 1662.
The accounts of it depend on a _Relacion del descubrimiento del Pais
y Ciudad de Quivira echo por D. Diego Dionisio de Peñalosa, escrita
por el Padre Fr. Nicolas de Freytas_ (1684). In 1882 there were two
annotated renderings of this narrative,—one by Duro, mentioned at the
beginning of this note, who discredits the journal and gives other
documents on the same theme; the other, an English version, was issued
under the title, _The expedition of Don Diego Dionisio de Peñalosa,
from Santa Fé to the river Mischipi and Quivira in 1662, as described
by Father Nicholas de Freytas. With an account of Peñalosa’s projects
to aid the French to conquer the mining country in Northern Mexico; and
his connection with Cavelier de la Salle. By John Gilmary Shea_, New
York, 1882.

Dr. Shea in this volume claims that Quivira was north of the Missouri,
while it has generally been placed south of that river. He also
derives from this narrative an opinion, contrary to the one ordinarily
received, namely, that La Salle was carried, against his will, beyond
the mouths of the Mississippi in his expedition of 1682; for he judges
his over-shooting the mouths was intentional, in order to land where
he could better co-operate with Peñalosa in wresting the mines in New
Mexico from the Spaniards.

CHAPTER VIII.

PIZARRO, AND THE CONQUEST AND SETTLEMENT OF PERU AND CHILI.

BY CLEMENTS R. MARKHAM, F.R.S.

_Honorary Secretary of the Hakluyt Society._

WHEN the Isthmus of Darien was discovered by Vasco Nuñez de Balbóa,
during the six years between 1511 and 1517, there can be little doubt
that tidings, perhaps only in the form of vague rumors, were received
of the greatness and the riches of the Empire of the Yncas. The speech
which the son of the Cacique Comogre is said to have made to the
gold-seeking followers of the discoverer of the South Sea most probably
had reference to Peru; and still more certainly, when the Cacique of
Tumaco told Vasco Nuñez of the country far to the south which abounded
in gold, and moulded the figure of a llama in clay, he gave tidings
of the land of the Yncas. There was a chief in the territory to the
south of the Gulf of San Miguel, on the Pacific coast, named Biru, and
this country was visited by Gaspar de Morales and Francisco Pizarro
in 1515. For the next ten years Biru was the most southern land known
to the Spaniards; and the consequence was that the unknown regions
farther south, including the rumored empire abounding in gold, came
to be designated as _Biru_, or Peru. It was thus that the land of the
Yncas got the name of Peru from the Spaniards, some years before it was
actually discovered.[1467]

Pedro Arias de Avila, the governor of the mainland called Castilla del
Oro, founded the city of Panamá. He went there from the Pearl Islands,
in the vessels which had been built by his victim Vasco Nuñez, while
Gaspar de Espinosa, the _Alcalde Mayor_, led the rest of the colony by
land. The city was founded in 1519. The governor divided the land among
four hundred settlers from Darien. Among them were Pascual de Andagoya,
Hernando Luque (a priest), Francisco Pizarro, and Diego de Almagro.
Nombre de Dios, on the Atlantic side of the isthmus, was settled
towards the end of the same year by a captain named Diego Alviles, in
obedience to orders from Pedro Arias.[1468]

In the year 1522 Pascual de Andagoya, who had come out to Darien with
Pedro Arias in 1514 and was a cavalier of good family from the province
of Alava, was appointed inspector-general of the Indians on the
isthmus. He made a journey to a district called Chuchama, south of the
Gulf of San Miguel, where the chief told him that a certain people from
a province called Biru, farther south, came to make war upon them in
canoes at every full moon. Andagoya sent to Panamá for reinforcements,
in order to comply with the prayer of the people of Chuchama that he
would defend them, as well as to discover what there was farther south.
Having received an addition to his forces, he set out with the chief
of Chuchama, and in six days arrived at the province called Biru. It
had already been visited by Morales and Pizarro. After capturing their
principal stronghold, several chiefs of Biru made their submission to
Andagoya. From these people he collected information respecting the
great empire of the Yncas, and he then descended a river and continued
the examination of the coast in a small vessel which had followed him
from Chuchama. But he was attacked by a severe illness caused by having
been capsized in a canoe, and then kept for several hours in his wet
clothes. He therefore returned to Panamá, to report the knowledge he
had acquired, giving up his intention of conducting discovery to the
southward in person. It was fully three years before Andagoya had so
far recovered as to be able to ride on horseback.

The governor, Pedro Arias, therefore requested Andagoya to hand over
the enterprise to three partners who formed a company at Panamá. These
were Pizarro, Almagro, and Luque.

Francisco Pizarro was born about the year 1470[1469] in the province
of Estremadura, and was the illegitimate son of Gonzalo Pizarro, a
soldier who had served under the Great Captain in Italy. He had arrived
at Darien in the expedition of Alonzo de Ojeda in 1509. During fifteen
years he had been diligently serving as a brave, steady, much-enduring
man-at-arms; and on two or three occasions he found himself in
important and responsible positions. In 1524 he was a citizen of
Panamá with very limited means, but endowed with indomitable energy
and perseverance, and fifty-four years of age. Diego Almagro is said
to have been a foundling. At all events his parentage is unknown. He
had probably served for some years on the isthmus, but his name does
not occur until he entered into this partnership. Almagro is described
as a man of short stature, with a very plain face, and was at least as
old as Pizarro. He was hasty in temper, but generous and warm-hearted,
and his fine qualities attracted to him many faithfully attached
adherents. Luque had been schoolmaster at Darien, and was now the
principal parochial clergyman at Panamá, holding valuable property on
the adjacent island of Taboga, and in an influential position in the
colony.

Pizarro was to command the expedition; Almagro was to keep open
communications with Panamá and bring supplies; while Luque acted as
agent, and obtained the needful funds.

One of the small vessels which had been built for Vasco Nuñez was
obtained, and a force of eighty men (one hundred and twelve, according
to Xeres) and four horses was collected. Pizarro prepared to sail with
this single vessel and two canoes, having received all the information
and instructions that Andagoya could give him, and taking with him
the interpreters brought from Biru by that officer. It was arranged
that large trees near the sea-shore should be blazed, as guides to the
course taken by Pizarro, when his partner Almagro should follow with
supplies.

Pizarro sailed from Panamá Nov. 14, 1524, and after enduring terrible
sufferings on the coast of Biru, including famine, and losing
twenty-seven of his men, he went back to Chuchama, and sent the
treasurer Nicolas de Ribera to Panamá with the gold which he had
collected. Meanwhile Almagro had followed in another vessel with
provisions, and went on the traces of his companion by means of the
trees that had been marked, until he reached the Rio San Juan in 4°
north. Finding no further traces of Pizarro he returned, having lost
an eye in an encounter with natives. He also lost upwards of seventy
men;[1470] but he obtained some gold.

After this failure it was more difficult to obtain money and recruits
for a second attempt. Fortunately, the _Alcalde Mayor_, who was
impressed with the promising character of the undertaking, came
forward with the necessary funds, which he advanced through the agency
of Luque. Gaspar de Espinosa thus became one of the partners. The
agreement between the partners was signed March 10, 1526. Luque signed
as the agent of Espinosa. Pizarro and Almagro could neither read nor
write. One Juan de Pares signed on the part of Pizarro, and Alvaro del
Quiro for Almagro.

The second expedition sailed in 1526. It consisted of two vessels
commanded by Pizarro and Almagro respectively, with a very able and
gallant sailor named Bartolomé Ruiz, of Moguer, as pilot. There were
one hundred and sixty men all told. The adventurers made direct for the
river of San Juan, the farthest point reached by Almagro during the
previous voyage. Here Pizarro landed with his troops. Almagro returned
to Panamá in one vessel, for recruits and provisions, while Ruiz
proceeded on a voyage of discovery to the southward in the other.

Ruiz made a remarkable voyage, having rounded Cape Passado and reached
1° south. He was thus the first European to cross the equator on
the southern passage. He also fell in with a raft under sail, which
belonged to Tumbez in Peru, and thus obtained several curious specimens
of Ynca art, and some additional information. Almagro made a prosperous
voyage back to Panamá, and returned with supplies.

[Illustration: NATIVE RAFTS.

[This is Benzoni’s sketch of the rafts and boats used by the native on
the Pacific coast of the northern parts of South America. Edition of
1572, p. 165.—ED.]]

Pizarro had been left on a forest-covered, fever-haunted coast, which
has changed very little from that day to this. Hoping to find a
better country inland, he undertook long marches through the tangled
forest; but many of his men perished, and his party returned to the
coast, suffering from disease and famine. In this sorry plight the
all-enduring Pizarro was found, when Almagro and Ruiz returned.

Almagro had found a new governor installed at Panamá. Pedro de los Rios
had superseded Pedro Arias, who was transferred to Nicaragua, where he
died in 1532. With the new governor’s sanction, about eighty recruits
were collected, and with these and a fresh supply of stores Almagro
returned to the Rio de San Juan.

[Illustration: SKETCH MAP OF THE CONQUEST OF PERU.

[This map and map No. 2 show the modern geography. The development of
the cartography of Peru may be traced in Ramusio (1556) in the map of
the parts of the world newly discovered; in Ortelius (1584 and 1592)
and De Bry, part iii. (1592, a map of South America corrected in 1624);
in Wytfliet, 1597 (see map on a later page); in Van Baerle’s edition
of Herrera (1622); in Sanson, with the course of the Amazon (1656);
in Dudley’s _Arcano del mare_ (carta xxviii. 1647), for the coast; in
Vander Aa (1679), and in Boudouin’s translation of Garcilasso de la
Vega, published at Amsterdam in 1737. Markham, in his _Reports on the
Discovery of Peru_, gives a map showing the marches of Francisco and
Hernando Pizarro, May, 1532, to May, 1533. Other maps are given by
Prescott, H. H. Bancroft, and Helps. The best, however, is in Markham’s
_Travels of Cieza de Leon_.—ED.]]

The two partners then embarked, and under the guidance of the pilot
Ruiz they advanced along the coast as far as Atacames. They were
now in the province of Quito, a part of the Ynca empire. Here were
large towns, much ground under cultivation, and a formidable array
of well-armed troops to oppose their depredations. It was evident
that the Spanish force was too weak to make a successful settlement.
Pizarro proposed a return; Almagro opposed him, and there was a
violent quarrel, which was outwardly reconciled, leaving a permanent
feeling of suppressed jealousy and ill-will on both sides. Finally it
was resolved that Pizarro and part of the force should remain on the
island of Gallo, which had been discovered by Ruiz in 1° 57´ north,
while Almagro should return once more for recruits. The arrangements
caused much discontent. The men complained that they were being left to
starve. Some wrote letters home to Panamá, full of complaints, which
were seized by Almagro. One, however, named Saravia, concealed a note
in a large ball of cotton sent as a present to the governor’s wife. It
contained the following lines:—

  “Pues Señor Gobernador,
  Mírelo bien por entero,
  Que allá va el recogedor,
  Y acá queda el carnicero.”[1471]

Pizarro, soon after Almagro’s departure, sent off the other ship with
the most mutinous of his followers. But the governor, Los Rios, was
much incensed at the result of the expedition. He refused to give any
further countenance to the enterprise, and sent two vessels, under the
command of Don Pedro Tafur, of Cordova, to Gallo, with orders to take
every Spaniard off the island and bring them back to Panamá. Meanwhile
Pizarro and his people were suffering from famine and disease, and
from the incessant rains. Nearly all had lost every feeling of desire
for hazardous adventures. They longed only to be relieved from their
sufferings, and hailed the arrival of Tafur with unconcealed joy.

Then it was that Pizarro displayed that heroic resolution which has
made the famous act of himself and his sixteen companions immortal. The
story is differently told. Herrera says that Tafur stationed himself
in one part of the vessel, and drawing a line, placed Pizarro and his
soldiers on the other side of it. He then told those who wished to
return to Panamá to come over to him, and those who would remain, to
stay on Pizarro’s side of the line. But Garcilasso de la Vega tells us
that when Pizarro saw his men electing to return in the ship, he drew
his sword and made a long line with the point along the sand. Then,
turning to his men, he said, “Gentlemen! This line signifies labor,
hunger, thirst, fatigue, wounds, sickness, and every other kind of
danger that must be encountered in this conquest until life is ended.
Let those who have the courage to meet and overcome the dangers of this
heroic achievement cross the line, in token of their resolution, and as
a testimony that they will be my faithful companions. And let those who
feel unworthy, return to Panamá; for I do not wish to put force upon
any man. I trust in God that, for his greater honor and glory, his
Eternal Majesty will help those who remain with me, though they be few,
and that we shall not miss those who forsake us.” Of the two accounts,
that of Garcilasso is probably nearer the truth, because it is unlikely
that the embarkation would have taken place before the election was
made. It would naturally be made on the beach, before going on board.
Most of the authorities give the number of those who crossed the line
at thirteen. Xeres, Pizarro’s secretary, says there were sixteen.
Herrera gives the names of thirteen heroic men, Garcilasso supplying
the remaining three; and they deserve to be held in memory.[1472]

Nothing could shake the resolution of Pizarro. He would not return
until he had achieved greatness, and he found sixteen good men and
true to stand by him in his great need. They removed from Gallo to the
island of Gorgona, where there was some game and better water; while
the others returned with Tafur to Panamá.

The governor looked upon Pizarro’s conduct as an act of madness, and
refused all succor; but at length yielding to the entreaties of Luque
and Almagro, he allowed one vessel to be sent to Gorgona, with strict
orders to return in six months. So a small vessel was fitted out
under the command of the pilot Ruiz, and after seven weary months the
little forlorn hope at Gorgona descried the white sail, and joyfully
welcomed their friends with a supply of food and stores. Full of hope,
Pizarro and his gallant friends embarked; and the expert Ruiz, guided
by information obtained from the Peruvian sailors on the raft, made
direct for the Gulf of Guayaquil, performing the voyage in twenty days.
The year 1527 was now well advanced. Anchoring off the island of Santa
Clara, they stood across to the town of Tumbez on the following day.
Here they saw the undoubted signs of a great civilization, betokening
the existence of a powerful empire. Their impressions were confirmed
by a subsequent cruise along the Peruvian coast as far as Santa, in 9°
south latitude. They learned enough to justify a return to Panamá with
the report of a great discovery, the importance of which would justify
an application to the Spanish Government for some valuable concession
to Pizarro and his partners. Pizarro took with him, from Tumbez, a lad
who was to act as interpreter,—called Felipillo by the Spaniards,—and
also a few llamas. He then made the best of his way back to Panamá;
and it was agreed that he should proceed to Spain and make a direct
application to the Crown for authority to undertake the conquest of
the empire of the Yncas. In the spring of 1528, after having collected
the necessary funds with much difficulty, Pizarro set out for Spain,
accompanied by Pedro de Candia. Luque and Almagro waited at Panamá for
the result.

[Illustration: EMBARKING.

[Fac-simile of a cut made to do duty in various connections in Antwerp
publications of the last half of the sixteenth century. It is copied in
this case from fol. 23 of _De Wonderlijcke ende warachtighe Historie_
(Zarate), published by Willem Silvius in 1573.—ED.]]

Francisco Pizarro was well received by the Emperor Charles V. in an
interview at Toledo; but the sovereign set out for Italy immediately
afterwards, and subsequent arrangements were made with the Government
of the queen-mother. The capitulation was signed on the 26th of
July, 1529. Pizarro was appointed captain-general and _adelantado_,
and was decorated with the order of Santiago. He was also granted a
coat-of-arms, and thirteen out of the sixteen who crossed the line
at Gallo were ennobled by name. Almagro was made governor of Tumbez,
and afterwards received the title of marshal. Luque was to be bishop
of Tumbez, and protector of the Indians. Ruiz received the title of
grand pilot of the South Sea. Candia was appointed commander of the
artillery. Pizarro visited Estremadura, and from his home took back
with him to Peru his four brothers. Hernando, the eldest and only
legitimate son of his father, was a big tall man, with thick lips and
very red nose, brave and proud, with an uncompromising temper, and
ruthlessly cruel. Juan and Gonzalo were illegitimate, like Francisco,
and Francisco Martin de Alcantara was a uterine brother. His young
cousin Pedro Pizarro, the future historian, then only fifteen, went
out as the conqueror’s page; Fray Vicente de Valverde, a fanatical
Dominican, also went out; and Pizarro set sail from San Lucar on the
19th of January, 1530. On arriving at Panamá, he was upbraided by
Almagro for not having attended fairly to his (Almagro’s) interests,
while careful to secure everything for himself. From that time the old
partners were never really friends, and there was ill-concealed enmity
between Almagro and Hernando Pizarro. Meanwhile preparations for the
expedition were busily proceeded with at Panamá; and, as on former
occasions, Almagro was to follow with supplies and reinforcements.

[Illustration: PIZARRO’S DISCOVERIES.

[The map given in Ruge’s _Zeitalter der Entdeckungen_, p. 436.—ED.]]

Pizarro sailed from Panamá on the 28th of December, 1531, with
three small vessels carrying one hundred and eighty-three men and
thirty-seven horses. In thirteen days he arrived at the bay of San
Mateo, where he landed the horses and soldiers to march along the
shore, sending back the ships to get more men and horses at Panamá
and Nicaragua. They returned with twenty-six horses and thirty more
men. With this force Pizarro continued his march along the sea-coast,
which was well peopled; and on arriving at the bay of Guayaquil, he
crossed over in the ships to the island of Puna. Here a devastating war
was waged with the unfortunate natives, and from Puna the conqueror
proceeded again in his ships to the Peruvian town of Tumbez. The
country was in a state of confusion, owing to a long and desolating war
of succession between Huascar and Atahualpa, the two sons of the great
Ynca Huayna Capac, and was thus an easy prey to the invaders. Huascar
had been defeated and made prisoner by the generals of his brother,
and Atahualpa was on his way from Quito to Cusco, the capital of the
empire, to enjoy the fruits of his victory. He was reported to be at
Caxamarca, on the eastern side of the mountains; and Pizarro, with his
small force, set out from Tumbez on the 18th of May, 1532.

[Illustration: NATIVE HUTS IN TREES.

[Benzoni’s sketch of the native habitations on the coast towards Peru.
Edition of 1572, p. 161.—ED.]]

The coast of Peru is a rainless region of desert, crossed at intervals
by fertile valleys which follow the courses of the streams from the
Andes to the sea. Parallel with this coast region, to the eastward, is
the _sierra_, or mountainous country of the _cordilleras_ of the Andes,
the cradle and centre of the civilized tribes of Peru. Still farther
to the eastward are the great rivers and vast forests or _montaña_ of
the basin of the Amazons.[1473] Thus the length of Peru is divided into
three very different and distinctly marked regions,—the coast, the
_sierra_, and the _montaña_.

[Illustration: ATAHUALPA.

[From Herrera (1728), vol. iii. p. 5. Quaritch in 1870 (_Catalogue_,
259, no. 651) held at £105 the original oil paintings from which the
likenesses of thirteen Incas in Herrera’s _Hechos de los Castellanos_
were engraved, in 1599, with an extra one of Atahualpa, which was not
given in Herrera. The previous thirteen are given in small marginal
engravings in the border of the frontispiece of Herrera’s fifth
and sixth Decades, and copied in the edition of Barcia, who throws
discredit on the engravings which De Bry had given. These last are
reproduced in Tschudi’s _Antiquedades Peruanas_. Cf. _Catalogue of
Gallery of the New York Historical Society_, No. 378.—ED.]]

The first part of Pizarro’s march was southward from Tumbez, in
the rainless coast region. After crossing a vast desert he came to
Tangarara, in the fertile valleys of the Chira, where he founded the
city of San Miguel, the site of which was afterwards removed to the
valley of Piura. The accountant Antonio Navarro and the royal treasurer
Riquelme were left in command at San Miguel, and Pizarro resumed his
march in search of the Ynca Atahualpa on the 24th of September, 1532.
He detached the gallant cavalier, Hernando de Soto, into the _sierra_
of Huancabamba, to reconnoitre, and pacify the country. De Soto
rejoined the main body after an absence of about ten days. The brother
of Atahualpa, named Titu Atauchi, arrived as an envoy, with presents,
and a message to the effect that the Ynca desired friendship with the
strangers.

[Illustration: ATAHUALPA.

[Fac-simile of the copperplate in the English edition of Thevet’s
_Pourtraitures and Lives_ appended to North’s _Plutarch_, Cambridge,
England, 1676, p. 66. A somewhat famous picture by a Peruvian artist,
Monteros, representing the Spanish soldiers hustling the wailing
women out of the hall while the funeral rites over Atahualpa were in
progress, is heliotyped in the second volume of Hutchinson’s _Two Years
in Peru_.—ED.]]

Crossing the vast desert of Sechura, Pizarro reached the fertile valley
of Motupe, and marched thence to the foot of the _cordilleras_ in
the valley of the Jequetepeque. Here he rested for a day or two, to
arrange the order for the ascent. He took with him forty horses and
sixty foot, instructing Hernando de Soto to follow him with the main
body and the baggage. News arrived that the Ynca Atahualpa had reached
the neighborhood of Caxamarca about three days before, and that he
desired peace. Pizarro pressed forward, crossed the _cordillera_,
and on Friday, the 15th of November, 1532, he entered Caxamarca with
his whole force. Here he found excellent accommodation in the large
masonry buildings, and was well satisfied with the strategic position.
Atahualpa was established in a large camp outside, where Hernando de
Soto had an interview with him. Atahualpa announced his intention of
visiting the Christian commander, and Pizarro arranged and perpetrated
a black act of treachery. He kept all his men under arms. The Ynca,
suspecting nothing, came into the great square, walking in grand regal
procession. He was suddenly attacked and made prisoner, and his people
were massacred.

The Ynca offered a ransom, which he described as gold enough to fill a
room twenty-two feet long and seventeen wide, to a height equal to a
man’s stature and a half. He undertook to do this in two months, and
sent orders for the collection of golden vases and ornaments in all
parts of the empire.[1474] Soon the treasure began to arrive, while
Atahualpa was deceived by false promises; and he beguiled his captivity
by acquiring Spanish and learning to play at chess and cards.

Meanwhile Pizarro sent an expedition under his brother Hernando, to
visit the famous temple of Pachacamac on the coast; and three soldiers
were also despatched to Cusco, the capital of the empire, to hurry
forward the treasure. They set out in February, 1533, but behaved
with so much imprudence and insolence at Cusco as to endanger their
own lives and the success of their mission. Pizarro therefore ordered
two officers of distinction, Hernando de Soto and Pedro del Barco, to
follow them and remedy the mischief which they were doing. On Easter
eve, being the 14th of April, 1533, Almagro arrived at Caxamarca with a
reinforcement of one hundred and fifty Spaniards and eighty-four horses.

On the 3d of May it was ordered that the gold already arrived should
be melted down for distribution; but another large instalment came on
the 14th of June. An immense quantity consisted of slabs, with holes
at the corners, which had been torn off the walls of temples and
palaces; and there were vessels and ornaments of all shapes and sizes.
After the royal fifth had been deducted, the rest was divided among
the conquerors. The total sum of 4,605,670 ducats would be equal to
about £3,500,000 of modern money.[1475] After the partition of the
treasure, the murder of the Ynca was seriously proposed as a measure
of good policy. The crime was committed by order of Pizarro, and
with the concurrence of Almagro and the friar Valverde.[1476] It was
expected that the sovereign’s death would be followed by the dispersion
of his army, and the submission of the people. This judicial murder
was committed in the square of Caxamarca on the 29th of August, 1533.
Hernando de Soto was absent at the time, and on his return he expressed
the warmest indignation. Several other honorable cavaliers protested
against the execution. Their names are even more worthy of being
remembered than those of the heroic sixteen who crossed the line on
the sea-shore at Gallo.[1477]

[Illustration: DIEGO DE ALMAGRO.

[From Herrera (1728) vol. ii. p. 285. An original manuscript letter
of Almagro, Jan. 1, 1535, addressed to the Emperor, and asking
for a province beyond Pizarro’s, is noted in Stevens, _Bibliotheca
geographica_, no. 109.—ED.]]

Pizarro at first set up a son of Atahualpa as his successor; but the
boy died within two months. A more important matter was the despatch of
the treasure to Spain, with tidings of the conquest. The first ship,
laden with Peruvian gold, arrived at Seville on the 5th of December,
1534. The second ship followed in January, having on board, besides the
treasure, Hernando Pizarro, the conqueror’s brother. The excitement
caused by these arrivals was intense; and there was an eager desire
among adventurers, both of high and low degree, to become settlers in
this land of promise.

[Illustration: SKETCH MAP OF THE CONQUEST OF PERU. NO. 2.]

In September Pizarro began his march from Caxamarca to Cusco, the
capital of the empire, with five hundred Spaniards and about one
hundred and fifty horses. The artilleryman Candia had charge of two
falconets. The march was along the lofty valleys and over the passes
of the _sierra_, by Huamachuco, Huánuco, Xauxa, and Huamanga. The
rear-guard was attacked by Titu Atauchi, brother of Atahualpa, with
six thousand men; and eight Spaniards were taken prisoners, among them
Francisco de Chaves and Hernando de Haro, who had protested against the
murder of the Ynca Atahualpa, and Sancho de Cuellar, who had been clerk
to the court at the mock trial. They were taken to Caxamarca, which had
been abandoned by the Spaniards. Chaves and Haro were treated with the
greatest kindness. Cuellar was strangled on the spot where Atahualpa
was put to death. Hernando de Soto and Almagro led the van of the
Spanish army, and they had to fight a well-contested battle beyond the
Apurimac, with a native army led by one of the generals of Atahualpa.
Leaving a garrison at Xauxa, Pizarro followed more leisurely; and on
forming a junction with Almagro on the great plain of Sacsahuana,
near Cusco, he perpetrated another great crime. Challcuchima, one of
Atahualpa’s ablest generals, who had been taken prisoner, was burned
alive. Soon afterward the Ynca Manco, son of Huayna Capac, and the
rightful heir to the sovereignty, arrived at the Spanish camp to make
his submission and claim protection. His rights were recognized; and
on the 15th of November, 1533, the conqueror Pizarro entered the city
of Cusco in company with the rightful sovereign. The Ynca Manco was
inaugurated with the usual ceremonies and rejoicings; but in March,
1534, his beloved city of Cusco was converted into a Spanish town, and
a municipality was established. The palaces and spacious halls were
appropriated as churches and private houses of the conquerors. The
Dominicans received the great Temple of the Sun as their monastery; and
Friar Valverde, who became the first bishop of Cusco, in 1538, took the
spacious palace of the Ynca Uira-ccocha, in the great square, for his
cathedral.

[Illustration: PLAN OF YNCA FORTRESS NEAR CUSCO.

(From Markham’s _Royal Commentaries of the Yncas_, vol. ii. p. 305.)]

It was not long before the fame of the riches of Peru brought more
conquerors to seek for a share of the spoils. In March, 1534, Pedro
de Alvarado, one of the conquerors of Mexico, landed at Puerto Viejo,
close to the equator, with five hundred Spaniards, half of whom were
mounted. Among them was the noble cavalier Garcilasso de la Vega,
father of the future historian. After suffering dreadful hardships
in passing through the forests of the coast, the adventurers reached
Riobamba, with a loss of one fourth of their number. Pizarro, leaving
a garrison of ninety men under his brother Juan at Cusco, proceeded to
the sea-coast, where he had an interview with Alvarado at Pachacamac.
It was agreed that Alvarado should return to his government of
Guatemala, while many of his surviving followers attached themselves to
the fortunes of Pizarro.

The conqueror now resolved to fix the principal seat of his government
within a short distance of some convenient seaport. He finally selected
a site in the valley of the Rimac, six miles from the shores of the
Pacific Ocean. Here Pizarro founded the city of Lima on the festival of
Epiphany, the 6th of January, 1535. It was called “Ciudad de los Reyes”
(the city of the kings) in honor of Charles V. and his mother Juana,
and also in memory of the day. The city was laid out on a regular plan,
which has been little altered down to the present time, with broad
streets, at right angles, and a spacious square near the centre, one
side of which was to be occupied by the cathedral and another by the
palace. Pizarro appointed municipal officers, collected laborers, and
with great energy pushed on the work of building.

[Illustration: BUILDING OF A TOWN.

[Fac-simile of a cut made to do duty in various Antwerp imprints on
Peru of the latter half of the sixteenth century. It is copied in this
case from folio eighteen (reverse) of _De Wonderlijcke ende Warachtighe
Historie_ (Zarate), published by Willem Silvius, 1573.—ED.]]

Hernando Pizarro, arriving with such welcome treasure, was very
graciously received in Spain. Charles V. confirmed all his brother’s
previous grants, and created him a marquis;[1478] while Almagro,
with the title of marshal, was empowered to discover and occupy
territory for two hundred leagues, beginning from the southern boundary
of Pizarro’s government. Hernando himself was created a knight of
Santiago, and was authorized to enlist recruits, and equip a fleet
for his return to Peru. The return of Hernando was the signal for
the breaking out of a feud between the old partners. Almagro and his
friends declared that Cusco itself was to the south of the boundary
assigned to the territory of Pizarro. The conqueror hurried from his
work of building at Lima to Cusco, and made a solemn reconciliation
with Almagro, by a written agreement dated June 12, 1535.

[Illustration: GABRIEL DE ROJAS.

[Fac-simile of an engraving in Herrera, vol. iv. p. 260. He was one of
the distinguished cavaliers of the Conquest, to whom Muñoz—erroneously,
as Prescott thinks—assigned the authorship of the _Relacion primera_
of Ondegardo. He was distinguished at the defence of Cusco, when that
town was besieged by the Indians. Later, as governor of Cusco for
Almagro, he had charge of Gonzalo Pizarro while he was held a prisoner,
and had, later still, command of the artillery under Gasca. He died at
Charcas.—ED.]]

Almagro was induced to undertake an expedition for the discovery and
conquest of Chili. He was accompanied by a large army of Indians, led
by two Yncas of the blood royal; and he had with him about two hundred
Spaniards. He set out from Cusco in the autumn. Pizarro then returned
to the coast, to push forward the building of Lima, and to found the
cities of Truxillo (1535), Chachapoyas (1536), Huamanga (1539), and
Arequipa (1540). Hernando Pizarro, on his return, was sent to join his
brothers Juan and Gonzalo at Cusco, and to take command of that city
and fortress.

[Illustration: SKETCH MAP OF THE CONQUEST OF CHILI.]

The Spaniards had already begun to look upon the natives as their
slaves, and the young Ynca Manco was not only treated with neglect, but
exposed to every kind of humiliating insult. He escaped from Cusco,
and put himself at the head of a great army of his subjects in the
valley of Yucay. This was a signal; and immediately the whole country
was in revolt against the invaders. Juan Pizarro was driven back into
Cusco, and the city was closely besieged by the armies of the Ynca from
February, 1536. The besiegers succeeded in setting the thatched roofs
of the halls and palaces on fire, and the Spanish garrison was reduced
to the greatest straits. The Yncas had occupied the fortress which
commands the town, and Juan Pizarro was killed in an attempt to carry
it by storm. Finally Hernando Pizarro himself captured the fortress,
after a heroic defence by the Ynca garrison. Still the close siege of
the city continued, and the garrison was reduced to the last straits
by famine. Month after month passed away without tidings. At last the
season for planting arrived, and in August the Ynca was obliged to
raise the siege.

Chili, the long strip of land along the west coast of South America, to
the south of Peru, had been conquered by the Yncas as far as the river
Maule. Beyond that limit were the indomitable tribes of Araucanian
Indians. Bounded on one side by the _cordillera_ of the Andes, and on
the other by the sea, the country enjoys a temperate climate, suited
for the cultivation of wheat and the rearing of cattle. It can be
approached from Peru either by traversing the great desert of Atacama
on the coast, or by marching over the snowy plateaus and rocky passes
of the Andes. Almagro chose the latter route. The Indian auxiliaries,
led by Paullu, the brother of Ynca Manco, and by the Uillac Umu, or
high-priest, marched first, carrying provisions and making arrangements
for their supply, taking the road through the Collao and Charcas (the
modern republic of Bolivia). The Indian contingent was followed by one
hundred Spaniards under Don Juan Saavedra; and this advanced party
waited at Paria, in the south of Charcas, for the main body. This was
commanded by Don Rodrigo Orgoñez, a native of Oropesa, who had served
under the constable Bourbon at the sack of Rome. He was a brave and
experienced commander, ever faithful to his chief, the marshal Almagro.
The whole force, when united in the distant valley of Jujuy, consisted
of five hundred Spaniards, with two hundred horses. The march across
the Andes to Coquimbo, in Chili, during the winter of 1536, was a time
of intense suffering and hardship bravely endured; but it was stained
by the most revolting cruelties to the people of Charcas and Jujuy.

Almagro advanced from Coquimbo to the southward, and his Peruvian
contingent suffered a defeat from an army of Promauca Indians. He
was reinforced by Orgoñez and Juan Rada, another faithful adherent,
who brought with them the royal order appointing Almagro to be
_adelantado_, or governor, of New Toledo, which was to extend two
hundred leagues from the southern limit of Pizarro’s government of
New Castile. The explorers now desired to return and occupy this new
government, which they claimed to include the city of Cusco itself.
Almagro had arranged that three small vessels should sail from Callao,
the port of Lima, for the Chilian coast, with provisions. Only one ever
sailed, named the “Santiaguillo,” having a cargo of food, clothing,
and horse-shoes. She arrived in a port on the coast of Chili; and when
the tidings reached Almagro, he sent the gallant Juan de Saavedra, the
leader of his vanguard, with thirty horsemen, to communicate with her.
Saavedra found the little vessel anchored in a bay surrounded by rugged
hills covered with an undergrowth of shrubs, and having a distant view
of the snowy _cordillera_. In some way it reminded him of his distant
Spanish home. Saavedra was a native of the village of Valparaiso, near
Cuenca, in Castile. He named the bay, where the principal seaport
of Chili was destined to be established, Valparaiso. This was in
September, 1536. Landing the much-needed supplies, Saavedra rejoined
his chief, and the expedition of Almagro began its painful return
journey by the desert of Atacama. On arriving at Arequipa, Almagro
first heard of the great insurrection of the Yncas. Marching rapidly to
Cusco, his lieutenant, Orgoñez, defeated the Ynca Manco in the valley
of Yucay; and Almagro entered the ancient city, claiming to be its
lawful governor.

The royal grant had given Pizarro all the territory for two hundred and
seventy leagues southward from the river of Santiago, in 1° 20´ north,
and to Almagro two hundred leagues extending from Pizarro’s southern
limit. Herrera says that there were seventeen and one half leagues in
a degree. This would bring Pizarro’s boundary as far south as 14° 50´,
and would leave Cusco (13° 30´ 55″ south) well within it. But neither
the latitudes of the river Santiago nor of Cusco had been fixed, and
the question was open to dispute.

Almagro seized upon Cusco on the 8th of April, 1537, and placed the
brothers Hernando and Gonzalo Pizarro, who had defended the place
against the Yncas, in confinement. News then came that a large body
of men under Alonzo de Alvarado, sent by the governor Pizarro from
Lima, was approaching Cusco. Alvarado, with about five hundred men,
had advanced as far as the river Abancay, where he was surprised
and defeated by Orgoñez on the 12th of July, 1537. Meanwhile some
reinforcements were arriving at Lima, in reply to the appeals of
Pizarro for help against the native insurrection.

The ecclesiastic Luque had died; but the other partner who advanced the
money for the original expedition, the licentiate Gaspar de Espinosa,
still lived; and he now joined Pizarro at Lima, with a force of two
hundred and fifty men. Cortés also despatched a vessel with supplies
and military stores from Mexico.

The Marquis—as Pizarro was now styled—sent an embassy to Almagro at
Cusco, under the licentiate Espinosa, in the hope of settling the
dispute amicably. Almagro, elated by his successes, was in no mood for
moderating his demands; and, unfortunately, Espinosa died very suddenly
in the midst of the negotiation. It was broken off; and Almagro
declared his intention of retaining Cusco and marching to the coast, in
order to establish for himself a seaport. Orgoñez had again defeated
the Ynca Manco, dispersed his army, and forced him to take refuge, with
his family and little court, in the mountainous fastness of Vilcabamba.
Leaving Gonzalo Pizarro in prison at Cusco, Almagro marched to the
valley of Chincha, on the sea-coast, taking Hernando Pizarro with him.
At Chincha he began to lay out a city, to be called Almagro, which was
to rival Lima, one hundred miles to the northward. Chincha is nearly in
the same latitude as Cusco.

While he was at Chincha, Almagro received news that Gonzalo Pizarro and
Alonzo de Alvarado had escaped from their Cusco prison, and reached
the camp of the marquis, near Lima. After some correspondence, it was
agreed that a friar named Francisco de Bobadilla should arbitrate,
and that Pizarro and Almagro should have a personal interview in the
little town of Mala, near the coast, between Lima and Chincha. The
meeting took place on the 13th of November, 1537. There was a furious
altercation. They parted in anger; indeed Almagro, fearing treachery,
rode off very hastily. A cavalier of Pizarro’s party had hummed two
lines of an old song in his hearing,—

  “Tiempo es el cavallero,
  Tiempo es de andar de aqui.”

It was the last time the old partners ever saw each other. The friar’s
award was that a skilful pilot should be sent to fix the latitude of
the river of Santiago, and that meanwhile Almagro should deliver up
Cusco, and Hernando Pizarro should be set at liberty. But in order to
secure the safety of his brother, the marquis made the concession that
Almagro should hold Cusco until the boundaries were fixed. Hernando was
then allowed to leave the camp of Almagro.

But the marquis had no intention of allowing his rival to retain Cusco.
Too old to take the field himself, he intrusted the command of his
army to his brother Hernando. His rival was also broken down by age
and infirmities, and Rodrigo de Orgoñez became the actual commander
of Almagro’s forces. He retreated by short marches towards Cusco, the
old marshal being carried in a litter, and requiring long intervals of
rest. The marquis led his army down the coast to Yca, where he took
leave of it, and returned to Lima. His brother Hernando then proceeded
still farther along the coast to Nasca, and ascended the _cordilleras_
by way of Lucanas, reaching the neighborhood of Cusco in April, 1538.
Almagro had arrived at Cusco ten days before.

Orgoñez took up a position at a place called Salinas, about three miles
from Cusco, with a force of five hundred men and about two hundred
horses. His artillery consisted of six falconets, which, with the
cavalry, he stationed on the flanks of his infantry. On Saturday, the
26th of April, 1538 (or the 6th, the day of Saint Lazarus, according to
Garcilasso), Hernando Pizarro began the attack. The infantry was led
by his brother Gonzalo, and by Pedro de Valdivia, the future governor
of Chili. Crowds of Indians watched the battle, and rejoiced to see
their oppressors destroying one another. The cavalry charged at full
gallop, the infantry fought desperately; but Orgoñez was killed, and
after an hour the fortune of the day turned against the marshal. His
soldiers fled to Cusco, followed by the victorious party, and Almagro
himself was put in chains and confined in the same prison where he had
put the Pizarros. His young son Diego,—by an Indian girl of Panamá,—to
whom the old man was devotedly attached, was sent at once to the camp
of the marquis at Lima, in charge of Alcantara, the half-brother of the
Pizarros. Hernando then prepared a long string of accusations against
his defeated foe, obtained his condemnation, and caused him to be
garroted in the prison. Almagro was buried in the church of La Merced
at Cusco, in July, 1538.

The Marquis Francisco Pizarro received the young Almagro with kindness,
and sent him to Lima, ordering him to be treated as his son. The
governor himself remained for some time at Xauxa, and then proceeded
to Cusco, where he confiscated the property of Almagro’s followers.
He sent his brother Gonzalo to conquer the people of Charcas. In 1539
Hernando Pizarro set out for Spain; but the friends of Almagro were
before him. He was coldly received, and eventually committed to prison
for his conduct at Cusco, and lingered in captivity for upwards of
twenty years.

Pizarro returned to Lima, and despatched numerous expeditions in
various directions for discovery and conquest. Gomez de Alvarado
was intrusted with the settlement of Huánuco; Francisco de Chaves,
of Conchucos; Vergara and Mercadillo were to explore Bracamoras and
Chachapoyas; and Pedro de Candia was to settle the Collao. Gonzalo
Pizarro himself undertook an expedition to the land of cinnamon,—the
forest-covered region to the eastward of Quito. Leaving Pedro de
Puelles in command at Quito, Gonzalo entered the forests with three
hundred and fifty Spaniards and four thousand Indians on Christmas
Day, 1539. The hardships and sufferings of these dauntless explorers
have seldom been equalled by any body of men on record. Descending the
rivers Coca and Napo, Gonzalo intrusted the command of a small vessel
to Francisco de Orellana to go on in advance and seek for supplies. But
Orellana deserted his starving comrades, discovered the whole course
of the river Amazon, and returned to Spain. Out of the three hundred
and fifty Spaniards that started, fifty deserted with Orellana, two
hundred and ten died of hunger and disease, and the miserable remnant
eventually returned to Quito with their intrepid leader, Gonzalo
Pizarro, in June, 1542.

The marquis had also resolved to renew the attempt to conquer Chili,
which had been abandoned by Almagro. A cavalier had actually been
sent out from Spain, named Pedro Sanchez de Hoz, to undertake this
service. The marquis associated with him a commander on whose judgment,
resolution, and fidelity he could better rely. Pedro de Valdivia was a
native of Serena in Estremadura. He had seen much service in Italy; was
at the taking of Milan and at the battle of Pavia. He had arrived in
Peru in 1535, having been sent from Mexico by Hernando Cortés when the
governor of Peru appealed for help to resist the Ynca revolt. He did
important service for the Pizarros at the battle of Salinas.

Having collected one hundred and fifty soldiers at Cusco, Valdivia
began his march for Chili in March, 1540. His camp-master was Pedro
Gomez; his standard-bearer, Pedro de Mayor; his chief of the staff,
Alonso Monroy. Francisco de Aguirre and Jeronimo de Alderete were his
captains of cavalry; Francisco de Villagran led the arquebusiers, and
Rodrigo de Quiroga the pikemen. Two priests, named Bartolomé Rodrigo
and Gonzalo Marmolejo, accompanied the expedition. Before starting,
Valdivia went to the cathedral of Cusco, and swore, in presence of
Bishop Valverde, that the first church he built should be dedicated to
Our Lady of the Assumption, the patroness of Cusco, and that the first
city he founded should be named Santiago, after the patron of Spain.
Valdivia marched by way of the desert of Atacama, and at the very
outset he made an agreement with Sanchez de Hoz that the sole command
should rest with himself.

Valdivia had for a guide the friar Antonio Rondon, who had accompanied
Almagro’s expedition; and with his aid he overcame all the difficulties
of the march, and safely reached Copiapo in Chili. Advancing by Huasco
and Coquimbo, he defeated a large army of natives in the valley of
Chili or Aconcagua, and eventually selected a site for the foundation
of a new city on the banks of the river Mapocho, in the territory of
the Cacique Huelen-Guala. The foundation of the church, dedicated to
the Assumption, in accordance with the vow made at Cusco, was laid on
the 12th of February, 1541. The plan of the city was laid out, and it
received the name of Santiago. The officers of the municipality were
elected on the 7th of March, to remain in office for one year.

[Illustration: PEDRO DE VALDIVIA.

[From Herrera (1728), iv. 200.—ED.]]

It was not long before the natives of Chili took up arms to oppose
the intruders. Valdivia marched against a large body, leaving Monroy
in command at Santiago. But another force of Indians attacked the
city itself, with desperate valor, during fifteen days, killing four
Spaniards and twenty-three horses, and setting fire to the houses.
Valdivia hastily returned; and although the whole country was in
insurrection, Monroy nobly volunteered to make his way to Peru and
return with reinforcements and supplies. He set out Jan. 28, 1542.
Valdivia began to cultivate the land near Santiago, and to sow wheat,
in the hope of raising crops; and on the hill of Santa Lucia he
constructed a fort where provisions and valuables could be stored. But
the little colony continued to suffer much from scarcity of provisions.
Monroy, hiding in the woods during the day and travelling at night,
escaped from Chili and reached Cusco in safety. He succeeded in getting
a small vessel sent from the port of Arequipa to Valparaiso, while
he himself returned by the desert of Atacama, reaching Santiago in
December, 1543. Valdivia was now able to assume the offensive, and the
armed Indians retired to a distance from Santiago.

[Illustration: VALDIVIA.

[Fac-simile of a part of a copperplate, which appears in _Ovalle’s
Historica Relacion de Chile_, Rome, 1648.—ED.]]

The chief pilot of Panamá, an experienced Genoese seaman named Juan
Bautista Pastene, with Juan Calderon de la Barca, was ordered to
undertake a voyage of discovery along the coast of Chili at about the
same time. He sailed from Callao in July, 1544, and arrived at the port
of Valparaiso in August, in his little vessel the “San Pablo.”

[Illustration: PASTENE.

[Fac-simile of part of a copperplate in Ovalle’s _Hist. Rela. de
Chile_, Rome, 1648.—ED.]]

Here he was visited by Valdivia, who confirmed the name of Valparaiso
and officially declared it to be the port of Santiago. Valdivia
proclaimed the foundation of the town of Valparaiso on the 3d of
September, 1544, and appointed Pastene his lieutenant in command of the
Chilian seas. The two little vessels “San Pedro” and “Santiaguillo”
then took some men-at-arms on board, and proceeded on a voyage of
discovery to the southward on the 4th of September. Pastene went as
far as 41° south, discovering a harbor which was named Valdivia, the
mouths of several rivers, the island of Mocha and the Bay of Penco.
He returned to Valparaiso on the 30th of September, and reported his
success to the governor, who now had two hundred Spaniards at Santiago,
besides women and children. In the same year Valdivia sent a captain
named Bohan to found a town in the valley of Coquimbo, to serve as a
refuge and resting-place on the road between Santiago and Peru. It was
named La Serena, after the native place of Valdivia. The “San Pedro”
was sent to Coquimbo to be caulked and otherwise repaired.

[Illustration: PIZARRO.

[Fac-simile of engraving in Herrera, vol. ii. p. 280. De Bry (part
vi.) gives a small medallion likeness. Cf. Verne’s _La Découverte de
la Terre_. Prescott (vol. i.) gives an engraving after a painting in
the series of the line of the viceroys, preserved at that time in the
viceregal palace at Lima. It gives the conqueror in civic costume, with
cap and cloak, and a letter in one hand and a glove in the other. A
colored representation of the royal standard borne by Pizarro is given
in _El General San Martin_, Buenos Ayres, 1863. They continue to show,
or did exhibit till recently, a body claimed to be that of Pizarro, in
the cathedral at Lima. (Hutchinson’s _Two Years in Peru_, vol. i. p.
309.)—ED.]]

The governor then undertook an expedition to the south, crossed the
river Maule, defeated a large body of Indians at a place called
Quilacara, and advanced as far as the banks of the river Biobio,
returning to Santiago, after an absence of forty days, in March, 1546.
Pastene had made another voyage to Callao, taking with him the gallant
Alonso Monroy, who died on the passage. He returned to Valparaiso, with
a melancholy account of the disturbed state of Peru, Dec. 1, 1547; and
Valdivia determined, after much deliberation, to take up arms against
Gonzalo Pizarro, as a loyal servant of the Spanish Crown. He went on
board Pastene’s ship, made sail Dec. 10, 1547, and arrived at Callao,
the port of Lima. He had founded a new colony, and left it securely
established in Chili.

[Illustration: PIZARRO.

[Fac-simile of the engraving as given in Montanus and Ogilby.—ED.]]

During the seven years of Valdivia’s absence in Chili, stirring
events had occurred in the land of the Yncas. The marquis returned
to Lima, where he was busily engaged in the work of building, and in
administering the affairs of his vast command. Many of the ruined
followers of Almagro were there also, driven to desperation by the
confiscation of their property. They were called, in derision, the “men
of Chili.” Pizarro treated them with contemptuous indifference, and
expelled the young Almagro from his house.

The most conspicuous of the malcontents was Juan de Rada; and he
matured a plot for the assassination of the governor. On the 26th of
June, 1541, the conspirators, headed by Rada, ran across the great
square during the dinner hour, and entered the court of Pizarro’s
house.[1479] The marquis had just dined, and his brother Martin de
Alcantara, the judge Velasquez, Francisco de Chaves, and others were
with him. Being unarmed, several of those present, on hearing the
outcry, let themselves down into a garden from the corridor, and
escaped. Chaves went out on the stairs, where he was murdered by the
conspirators, who were running up. The marquis had thrown off his
robe, put on a cuirass, and seized a spear. He was past seventy. His
brother, a cavalier named Gomez de Luna, and two pages were with him.
The assassins numbered nineteen strong men. Pizarro fought valiantly,
until Rada thrust one of his companions on the spear and rushed in.
Alcantara, Luna, and the two pages were despatched. Pizarro continued
to defend himself until a wound in the throat brought him to the
ground. He made the sign of the cross on the floor, and kissed it.
He then breathed his last. The conspirators rushed into the street
shouting, “The tyrant is dead!” The houses of the governor and his
secretary were pillaged. Juan de Rada coerced the municipality and
proclaimed Diego Almagro, the young half-caste lad, governor of Peru.
The body of Pizarro was buried in the cathedral, by stealth, and at
night.

But the colonists did not immediately submit to the new rule. Alvarez
de Holguin, one of Pizarro’s captains, held Cusco with a small force,
and Alonzo de Alvarado opposed the conspiracy in the north of Peru.
The bishop Valverde, of Cusco, and the judge Velasquez were allowed to
embark at Callao in November, 1541; but they fell into the hands of the
Indians on the island of Puna, in the Gulf of Guayaquil, and were both
killed.

[Illustration: VACA DE CASTRO.

[From Herrera (1728), vol. iv. p. 1.—ED.]]

The followers of Almagro the lad, as he was called, determined to march
from Lima in the direction of Cusco, so as to get between Alvarado
and Holguin. At Xauxa the youthful adventurer had the misfortune to
lose his most trusty adherent. Juan de Rada died of fever. The two most
influential of his supporters who remained were Cristóval de Sotelo and
Garcia de Alvarado,—and they had quarrelled with one another. Their
delays enabled Holguin to pass to the north, and unite his forces with
Alvarado’s. Almagro then established himself at Cusco, where Sotelo was
murdered by his rival Alvarado; and the latter was put to death by the
young Almagro, who assumed the direction of his own affairs. He was
barely twenty-two years of age.

The Emperor Charles V., long before the death of Pizarro, had decided
upon sending out a royal judge to act as the old conqueror’s coadjutor
and adviser, especially with regard to the treatment of the Indians.
For this delicate post the emperor’s choice fell upon Dr. Don Cristóval
Vaca de Castro, a Judge of the Audience of Valladolid. After a long
voyage the new judge had landed at Buenaventura, a town recently
founded by Pascual de Andagoya, near that river San Juan where Pizarro
had waited in such dire distress during his first voyage. He had a
royal order to assume the post of governor of Peru in the event of
Pizarro’s death; and on arriving at Popayan he received tidings of
the assassination. He then proclaimed his commission as governor,
and advanced southwards, by way of Quito, along the Peruvian coast.
At Huara he was joined by Alvarado and Holguin with their forces.
He entered Lima, and then proceeded, by way of Xauxa, in search of
the assassins. Young Almagro had a force of five hundred Spaniards,
with two hundred horses; and he had a park of artillery consisting of
sixteen pieces under the direction of the veteran Pedro de Candia.
With this force he left Cusco in July, 1542. Vaca de Castro marched
in great haste to Guamanga, in order to secure that important post
before Almagro could reach it from Cusco. The rebels, as they must
be called, took a route along the skirts of the _cordillera_, until
they reached an elevated plateau called Chupas, above and a little to
the south of the newly built town of Guamanga. Their object appears
to have been to cut off the communications of Vaca de Castro with the
coast. In order to approach them, it was necessary for the royal army
to evacuate Guamanga, and ascend a very steep slope to the terrace-like
plateau where Almagro’s army was posted. It was the 16th of September,
1542, and the ascent from Guamanga must have occupied the greater part
of the day. The army of Vaca de Castro was marshalled by the veteran
Francisco de Carbajal, an old soldier who had seen forty years’ service
in Italy before he crossed the Atlantic. Carbajal led the troops into
action with such skill that they were protected by intervening ground
until they were close to the enemy; and when Almagro’s artillery opened
fire on them, the guns were so elevated as to do no execution. This
led young Almagro to suspect Pedro de Candia of treachery, and he
there and then ran the old gunner through the body, and pointed one of
the guns himself with good effect. The royal army now began to suffer
severely from the better-directed artillery fire. Then the opposing
bodies of cavalry charged, while Carbajal led a desperate attack with
the infantry, and captured Almagro’s guns. Holguin fell dead; Alvarado
was driven back, and young Almagro behaved with heroic valor. Yet when
night closed in, the army of Vaca de Castro was completely victorious,
and five hundred were left dead on the field. It was a desperately
contested action. Almagro fled to Cusco with a few followers, where he
was arrested by the magistrates. Vaca de Castro followed closely, and
on arriving in the city he condemned the lad to death. Almagro suffered
in the great square, and was buried by the side of his father in the
church of La Merced.

Vaca de Castro assumed the administration of affairs in Peru as royal
governor. In the same year the Dominican Friar Geronimo de Loaysa,
a native of Talavera, became bishop of Lima. He was promoted to
the rank of archbishop in 1545. Another Dominican, Juan de Solano,
succeeded Valverde as bishop of Cusco in 1543. Gonzalo Pizarro, when
he returned from his terrible expedition in the forests east of
Quito, was induced by the governor to retire peaceably to his estates
in Charcas. The efforts of Vaca de Castro as an administrator were
directed to regulating the employment of the natives, and to improving
communications.

When the good Bartolomé Las Casas returned to Spain, in 1538, he
published his famous work on the destruction of the native race of
America. He protested against the Indians being given to the Spaniards
in _encomienda_, or vassalage for personal service.[1480] At last the
emperor appointed a committee consisting of churchmen and lawyers of
the highest position, to sit at Valladolid in 1542, and to consider the
whole subject. The result was the promulgation of what were called the
“New Laws.”

 I. After the death of the conquerors, the _repartimientos_ of Indians,
 given to them in _encomienda_, were not to pass to their heirs, but
 be placed directly under the king. Officers of his majesty were to
 renounce the _repartimientos_ at once.

 II. All _encomenderos_ in Peru who had been engaged in the factious
 wars between the Pizarros and Almagros were to be deprived.

 III. Personal service of the Indians was to be entirely abolished.

Blasco Nuñez Vela was appointed viceroy of Peru to enforce the “New
Laws,” assisted by a court of justice, of which he was president,
called the _Audiencia_ of Lima. There were four other judges, called
_oidores_, or auditors, named Cepeda, Zarate, Alvarez, and Tejada.
The viceroy and his colleagues embarked at San Lucar on the 3d of
November, 1543. Leaving the judges sick at Panamá, the viceroy landed
at Tumbez on the 4th of March, 1544, with great magnificence, and
proceeded by land to Lima, proclaiming the “New Laws” as he advanced.
The Spanish conquerors were thrown into a state of dismay and
exasperation. They entreated Gonzalo Pizarro to leave his retirement
and protect their interests, and when he entered Cusco he was hailed
as procurator-general of Peru. He seized the artillery at Guamanga,
and assembled a force of four hundred men, while old Francisco de
Carbajal, the hero of the battle of Chupas, became his lieutenant.

The viceroy was a headstrong, violent man, without judgment or capacity
for affairs. His first act after entering Lima was to imprison the
late governor, Vaca de Castro. The principal citizens entreated him
not to enforce the “New Laws” with imprudent haste. But he would
listen to no arguments; and when the auditors arrived from Panamá, he
quarrelled with them, and acted in defiance of their protests. At last
the auditors ventured upon the bold step of arresting the viceroy in
his palace, and placing him in confinement. He was sent to the island
of San Lorenzo, and a government was formed with the auditor Cepeda
as president, who suspended the “New Laws” until further instructions
could be received from Spain. The auditor Alvarez was commissioned to
embark on board a vessel with the viceroy, and take him to Panamá.

Meanwhile Gonzalo Pizarro was approaching Lima by rapid marches, and he
entered the capital on the 28th of October, 1544, at the head of twelve
hundred Spaniards and several thousand Indians dragging the artillery,
which had formed the special strength of young Almagro. The _Audiencia_
submitted; the judges administered the oaths, and Gonzalo was declared
governor and captain-general of Peru. At the same time Vaca de Castro
persuaded the captain of a vessel on board of which he was confined
in Callao Bay to get under way and convey him to Panamá. Accusations
were brought against him in Spain, and he was kept in prison for twelve
years, but was eventually acquitted and reinstated.

As soon as the ship conveying the viceroy to Panamá was at sea, the
judge Alvarez liberated him. He landed at Tumbez in October, 1544,
denounced Gonzalo Pizarro and the judge Cepeda as traitors, and called
upon all loyal subjects to support him. Volunteers arrived, and Blasco
Nuñez raised his standard at San Miguel de Piura. Gonzalo Pizarro
assembled a rival force at Truxillo; but the viceroy retreated before
him towards Quito, Carbajal pressing closely on his rear. The retreat
was almost a rout. Passing through Quito, the viceroy took refuge at
Pasto, within the jurisdiction of Sebastian Benalcazar, the governor of
Popayan. Early in January, 1546, having received reinforcements, Blasco
Nuñez ventured to advance once more towards Quito. Gonzalo Pizarro
took up a strong position outside; but the viceroy, now accompanied by
Benalcazar, made a detour and entered Quito. On the 18th of January,
1546, the viceroy led his followers to the plains of Anaquito, near the
town, where his enemy was posted, seven hundred strong. The battle was
not long doubtful. Alvarez the judge was mortally wounded. Benalcazar
was left for dead on the field. The viceroy was unhorsed and wounded,
and while lying on the ground his head was struck off by order of Pedro
de Puelles, Pizarro’s governor of Quito. The slaughter was terrific.
Cruel old Carbajal never showed any mercy, and no quarter was given.
Benalcazar, when he recovered, was allowed to return to Popayan; and
Gonzalo Pizarro attended as chief mourner at the funeral of the
viceroy in the cathedral of Quito.

Leaving a garrison at Quito, under Puelles, Gonzalo began his journey
southwards in July, 1546, and entered Lima in triumph. The only
resistance throughout Peru was from an officer in Charcas named Diego
Centeno, a native of Ciudad Rodrigo, who had come to Peru in 1534 with
Pedro Alvarado. He declared in favor of the viceroy at Chucuito; but
Alonzo Toro, who had been left in command at Cusco by Gonzalo Pizarro,
marched against him, and he fled into the fastnesses of Chichas, in the
far south. Pizarro was undisputed master of Peru, and his lieutenant
Carbajal retired to Charcas to work the silver mines.

[Illustration: GASCA.

[This follows the engraving given by Prescott (_History of the Conquest
of Peru_) of the portrait hanging in the sacristy of Saint Mary
Magdalene at Valladolid,—an inscription on which says that Gasca died
in 1567 at the age of seventy-one.—ED.]]

News of the revolt had reached Spain, and the licentiate Pedro de la
Gasca, an astute and very able ecclesiastic, was appointed to proceed
to Peru, and mediate between the viceroy and the malcontents. He
received very full powers, with large discretion, and was entitled
president of the _Audiencia_. He was very ugly, with a dwarfish body
and exceedingly long, ungainly legs. The president sailed from Spain on
the 26th of May, 1546, and received the news of the viceroy’s death on
his arrival at the isthmus. He brought out with him the announcement
of the revocation of the “New Laws,” owing to the dangerous spirit of
discontent they had caused throughout the Indies. They were withdrawn
by a decree dated at Malines on the 20th of October, 1545.

[Illustration: PEDRO DE LA GASCA.

[From Herrera (1728), vol. iv. p. 215.—ED.]]

The president arrived at Panamá on the 11th of August, 1546, where
he found the fleet of Gonzalo Pizarro, under the command of Pedro
de Hinojosa. Soon afterward Lorenzo de Aldana arrived as an envoy
from Pizarro, but was induced to submit to the president’s authority.
Hinojosa followed the example, and thus Gasca gained possession of the
fleet. When the offer of pardon reached Lima, Gonzalo was advised by
his lieutenant Carbajal to accept the terms; but the auditor Cepeda,
who had turned against the viceroy and administered the oaths of
office to a rebel, felt that there could be no pardon for him. The mad
ambition of Pizarro induced him to listen to Cepeda rather than to
Carbajal, and he finally rejected the offer of pardon; but many of his
old followers deserted him.

Lorenzo de Aldana was despatched from Panamá, with several vessels,
in February, 1547, and arrived in Callao Bay; while Diego Centeno
once more rose in the south, and began to collect troops. Gonzalo
Pizarro resolved to abandon Lima and march to Arequipa with only five
hundred men, so numerous had been the desertions from his ranks. Aldana
then entered the capital, while Gasca himself sailed from Panamá on
the 10th of April, 1547, landing at Tumbez on the 13th of June. He