TflE INCAS AND OTHER KULEHS OF rElUJ. 17 



foolhardy attempt, and Pizarro had to return to 8pain to obtain 

 permission of tlie emperor King Charles the Fifth, wIkj willingly 

 granted it, and appointed liim governor for life of the yet 

 unconquered country, by a roj'al order issued in June, 1529. 

 Pizarro retnrn'ed to Panama, and fitted out an expedition eomposod 

 of three ships, 185 veteran soldiers, and a few negro slaves, which 

 sailed south at the beginning of 1531. 



Meantime, the two Peruvian kings, in ignorance of their 

 impending fate, continued their fratricidal strife with greater 

 bloodshed and cruelty on both sides than had previously been 

 known in the wars of that country. 



Pizarro led his small army slowly along the coast, sacking 

 every town and village which he encountered on his march, and 

 after a few months sent back one of his ships to Panama with 

 considerable booty in the shape of gold and emeralds, which were 

 to be sold and employed in procuring reinforcements for his 

 expedition. 



By this time the natives had' not unnaturally begun to resent 

 his barbarities, and plucked np coui-age to oppose him. They 

 were, however, beaten in the first enconnters, and Pizarro occupied 

 Tumbez, where ho established his head-quarters for some time. 

 This occurred early in 1532. The conquest of a country number- 

 ing many millions of inhabitants by a handful of Spanish 

 adventurers had now begun in earnest. It was favoured, and 

 made possible, by the bitter war between the brother kings, 

 which entirely diverted their attention from the peril on their 

 shores. 



Pizarro then decided on a bold move, and learning that a 

 large army »vas being led by the Inca Atahualjia against his 

 brother Huascar, he decided to meet it and, if advisable, to 

 fight it, relying njion the superiority of his weapons and on the 

 superstitious fear which the effect of firearms and the sight of his 

 horses (then unknown in America) might arouse in the native 

 breast. He loft Tumbez for this purpose with a troop of 177 

 men all told, of which 60 were cavalry. 



Pizarro joined Atahualpa's army in Cajamarca, and off(n-ed 

 him assistance against his enemy. Atahualpa accepted the offer, 

 and friendly i-elations were established. Pizarro invited the 



