PIZARRO 



211 



hope. Sailing southward they reached the Peruvian 

 port of Tumbez, and collected full information 

 respecting the empire of the Incas. Returning to 

 Panama, Pizarro proceeded to Spain to apply for 

 authority to undertake the conquest of Peru. 



The capitulation hetween Queen Juana and 

 Pizarro was signed on 26th July 1529. Pizarro 

 was made adelantado and captain-general, while 

 Almagro received the title or marshal. Pizarro 

 took back with him his four brothers, Hernando, 

 Juan, Gonzalo, and Francisco Martin de Alcantara. 

 He sailed from San Lucar on 19th January 1530, 

 and from Panama on 28th December 1531, with 

 three vessels carrying 183 men and 37 horses. 

 Almagro was to follow with reinforcements. Land- 

 ing at Tumbez, the Spaniards commenced the 

 march inland in May 1532, and on 15th November 

 entered the city of Cajamarca. The Inca Atahu- 

 alpa, after defeating his brother and ending a long 

 civil war, was in the neighbourhood, on his way to 

 Cuzco, the capital of the empire. Pizarro captured 

 the native sovereign by treachery, and after extort- 

 ing an enormous ransom, amounting to 4,605,670 

 ducats (3,500,000 of our money), treacherously 

 put him to death on 29th August 1533. The royal 

 share of the treasure was sent to Spain, with tidings 

 of the conquest. Pizarro then marched to Cuzco, 

 and set up the young Inca Manco as nominal 

 sovereign. On 6th January 1535 Pizarro founded 

 the city of Lima, as the capital of his new govern- 

 ment. He was created a marquis by the Emperor 

 Charles V., while Almagro was empowered to 

 occupy territory for 200 leagues from the southern 

 boundary of Pizarro's government. But that 

 southern boundary was not fixed. Almagro 

 declared that Cuzco was within his grant, but 

 was induced to forego his claim, and to undertake 

 the conquest of Chili. The marquis was busy 

 founding cities on the coast, while his brothers 

 were at Cuzco, when a great insurrection of the 

 Indians broke out. Both Cuzco and Lima were 

 closely l>eieged, and Juan Pizarro was killed. 

 For many months the Spaniards were in great 

 danger, but in the spring of 1537 Almagro returned 

 from Chili, raised the siege of Cuzco, and took 

 possession of the city, claiming to be its lawful 

 governor. The Marquis Pizarro had no intention 

 of allowing his rival to retain Cuzco. Too old to 

 take the Held himself, he entrusted the command 

 of his forces to his brothers, who defeated Almagro 

 on 26th April 1538, and beheaded the old soldier 

 goon afterwards. The property of his followers 

 was confiscated. Pizarro remained at Lima, con- 

 Bolidating his power, and despatching various 

 expeditions for discovery and conquest. But 

 Almagro's followers were driven to desperation ; 

 they were called in derision 'men of Cnili,' and 

 the marquis treated them with contemptuous 

 indifference. One of them, named Juan de Rada, 

 matured a conspiracy for the assassination of the 

 governor. The conspirators attacked his house 

 during the mid-day meal, and murdered the old 

 conqueror, who was between sixty-Hve and seventy, 

 on 26th June 1541. The body of Pizarro was 

 buried in the cathedral by stealtn and at night. 



Francisco Pizarro is one of the most prominent 

 figures in the history of Spanish conquest in the 

 New World. He was brave and determined, a 

 man of inflexible constancy of purpose and infinite 

 resource. His followers were devoted to his 

 nervice, and some of his friendships endured until 

 death. The indelible stain on his character is the 

 treacherous execution of the Inca Atahualpa. 

 Although without education, he rose to the great- 

 ness of lii- position, and proved himself to be an 

 able and far-seeing administrator. Falling by the 

 hands of assassins, he was defended by devoted 

 friends, and died as bravely as he had lived. 



Pizarro was r.ever married. By the Inca princess, 

 Inez Huayllas Nusta, a sister of Atahualpa, he had 

 two children Gonzalo, who died young, and 

 Francisca, who went to Spain with her step-father, 

 Don Francisco Ampuero, a knight who married Inez 

 after the assassination of the marquis. Francisca 

 married her uncle Hernando Pizarro in 1551, and 

 by him had three sons and a daughter. Hernando, 

 for having beheaded the Marshal Almagro at Cuzco, 

 was imprisoned in the castle of Medina del Carnpo 

 on his return to Spain, where he remained until 

 1560. He married his niece during his imprison- 

 ment, which could not have been very rigorous. 

 He died at Trujillo, the original home of himself 

 and his brothers, in 1578. 



GONZALO PIZARRO, brother of the Marquis Fran- 

 cisco Pizarro, served with his father in Italy when a j 

 boy. He accompanied his brother Francisco in the 

 conquest of Peru, and did very good service when 

 the Indians besieged Cuzco, and in the conquest of 

 Charcas. In 1539 Gonzalo Pizarro undertook an 

 expedition to the so-called Land of Cinnamon, the 

 forest-covered region to the eastward of Quito. He 

 left that city with 350 Spaniards and 4000 Indians 

 on Christmas Day, and the hardships and suffer- 

 ings endured by Gonzalo and his companions have 

 seldom been equalled. Descending the rivers Coca 

 and Napo, Gonzalo entrusted the command of a 

 small vessel he had built to Francisco de Orellana, 

 one of his lieutenants, who was to go 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 350 Spaniards that left Quito 50 deserted with 

 Orellana, 210 died of hunger and disease, and the 

 miserable remnant returned to Quito with their 

 intrepid leader in June 1542. 



When Gonzalo Pizarro heard of the assassination 

 of his brother the marquis he retired to his estates 

 in Charcas. In 1544 the new viceroy, Blasco Nunez 

 Vela, arrived in Peru to enforce the 'New Laws." 

 The Spaniards were dismayed, and entreated Gon- 

 zalo to leave his retirement and protect their 

 interests. He consented, chose an old veteran 

 named Francisco de Carbajal as his lieutenant,- 

 and assembled a force of 400 men. The viceroy 

 fled, and Gonzalo entered Lima in triumph on the 

 28th of October 1544 at the head of 1200 Spaniards, 

 and several thousand Indians dragging the artillery. 

 He was declared governor of Peru. Blasco Nunez 

 de Vela fled to Quito, but was closely followed by 

 old Carbajal, and defeated and killed in the battle 

 of Anaquito on January 18, 1546. Gonzalo Pizarro 

 was undisputed master of Peru. Carbajal retired 

 to Charcas to work the silver-mines. 



When news of this revolt reached Spain the 

 licentiate Pedro de laGasca, an astute and very able 

 ecclesiastic, was appointed to proceed to Peru as 

 president of an ' Audiencia,' or court of five judges, 

 and to restore order. He sailed in May 1546, and 

 arrived at Panaiiiii in August, where he gained 

 possession of Pizarro's fleet by a combination of 

 cunning and force. Gasca landed at Tumbez in 

 June 1547. Gonzalo Pizarro, despairing of being 

 able to make head against the president, deter- 

 mined to retreat into Chili. But there was a 

 force, under an officer named Diego Centeno, hang- 

 ing on his rear ; and it was necessary to dispose of 

 it first. Centeno was utterly defeated in the battle 

 of Huarina, near the banks of Lake Titicaca, and 

 the doomed Pizarro was so elated at the victory 

 that he abandoned all idea of retiring into Chili. 

 He advanced to Cuzco, and the President Gasca 

 approached him by leisurely marches, encamping 

 on the plain of Sacsahuana, near Cuzco, in April 

 1548. On the 9th Pizarro and Carbajal marched 

 out of Cnzco, and both sides made ready for battle. 

 But soon there were symptoms of desertion on 



