158 ne DISCOVERT 
truly brave, withoiit Valuing himfelf much upon it : He 
had a wonderful Prefence of Mind, fo that no Danger 
could difconcert him •, he had fo much Fortitude, that no 
Difficulties could difcourage him. He v/as very kind to 
his Soldiers, liberal in Rewards, flow, and not fevere, in 
Punifhments, yet he maintained a very ftridt Difcipline, 
meerly from the Force of his Example ; for he was very 
feKadt in doing his own Duty, and, though he kept a good 
Table for his Officers, he fared himfelf as hard as any 
private Man in the Army •, and when fome fpake of 
this as an Affehlation, he faid Monks were prefcribed to 
by their Rules, fick Men by their Phyficiaris, and that his 
was the Diet of a Soldier. He was very loyal to his 
Prince, merciful to the Spaniards, generous in the higheft 
Degree, and knew not v/hat it was to frame a bafe De- 
fign ; but v/ith all this he was haughty and ambitious, 
very cruel at firft to the Indians, but living fome time 
with an Indian Woman, by whom he had his Son James, 
he grew firft mild, and at laft fo kind to them, that they 
loved him better than any other Spa^iiard. 
Ferdinand Pizarro, after his Death, went over to Spain 
to juftify it •, but, though he corrupted moft of the Mi- 
nifters, he had much ado to avoid paying for it with his 
Life 5 for James Aherado, who was Guardian to the 
young Almagro, profecuted him fo fteadily, that it is 
thought he took him off by Poifon, notwithftanding 
which he fuffered an Imprifonment of three and twenty 
Years, which afforded him time for true Repentance. 
22. The Death of Almagro, though covered with all 
the Appearances of Juftice, was extremely refented by 
the Spaniards and, inftead of extinguifhing, as was ex- 
pedled, increafed his Facftion ; which fhews, that Cruelty, 
or even Severity, is far from being the beft Remedy 
for civil Diffentions, which it often irritates and feldom 
cures ; But this was not the only Mifchief that followed 
this Adtion. The Lofs of fo able a Commander proved 
a great Prejudice to their Affairs, retarded their Difcove- 
ries, and gave a Check to their Conquefts *, and this, not 
only by hindering their Proceedings, and diverting them 
from compleating what he had begun, but by raifing 
them up new Enemies. For thereupon the Indians, ob- 
ferving the Divifions among the Spanijh Generals, had 
recourfe to Arms again •, and though the Spaniards in 
Pent amounted to two thoufand and upwards, they found 
it more difficult to maintain their Ground at this time, 
than at firft, when not, four hundred Men ; for the Ter- 
ror the Indians were under from the Fire-arms and Horfes, 
which they had never feen before, was in a great Meafure 
worn off, and they had learned of the Spaniards how to 
ride and handle their Arms •, and, having taken fome 
Horfes, were not afraid to fight the Spaniards at their 
own Weapons, nor did there want Inftances of fome Par- 
ties being defeated by them-, and had not the Indian 
Slaves and Vaffals ftuck clofe to the Spaniards, difeovered 
the Paffes and Places of ftrength, and from time to time 
• brought them both Provifions and Intelligence, probably 
Pizarro had been obliged to have abandoned his Con- 
quefts at laft. 
The moft confiderable Acquifition made after the 
Death of Almagro, was the Conqueft of the Charcas, in 
which lay the invaluable Mines of Potofi ; whofe Trea- 
fures drew fuch Multitudes of Adventurers thither, that 
the Indians of that Province were compelled at length 
to fubmit and become Slaves to the Spaniards. But 
they were not fo fuccefsful in Chili, that brave People 
difputed the Ground with the Spaniards by Inches, nor 
could they ever make themfelves entirely Mafters of it. 
And even in the Province of Eos Charcas, Gonzalo Pi- 
zarro, and his Forces, were fo furrounded and diftreffed 
by the Indians, that the Marquis was forced to march 
in Perfon, with the Garrifon of Cuzco, to his Relief. 
The Conqueft of Eos Charcas being finifhed, the Mar- 
quis founded , the Town of La Plata, fo named from the 
Silver Mines, and divided the City and the Country 
about it, with the Indians that inhabited it, amongft the 
Conquerors : To his Brother Ferdinand Pizarro, who was 
then in Spain, he allotted a very large Share and to his 
Brother Gonzalo, another Part of the Country, in which, 
fome time after, the Silver Mines of Potofi were difeovered. 
and CON E ST Book I. 
Ferdinand Pizarro alfo had a Share in thefe Mines, as a 
Citizen of La Plata. And a particular Part of it being 
affigned to his Officers, they difeovered fo rich a V ein, 
that ’tis faid they digged from it the fineft Silver without 
any Alloy. 
This Divifion of the Country was made in the Year 
1538 and 1539, and now the Marquis found himfelf 
poffeffed of a Territory feven or eight hundred Leagues 
in Length, viz. from the Equinoctial to the South Part 
of Los Charcas, in which were more rich Mines than in 
all the World befides ; and yet was not his Ambition or 
Avarice fatisfied, but in an extreme old Age he employ- 
ed his Brother Gonzalo in the Conqueft of other Nations. 
This Gentleman, who had all the Qualities of a great 
Commander, was at this time Governor of Sfeito and 
the Method he took for Difeovery, was to ftrike off to the 
Eaftv/ard, that they might know fomething of the 
Breadth of America ; but his Endeavours were obftrudt- 
ed by very great Difficulties, under which he had like 
to have perifhed ; but one of his Captains, whofe Name 
was Oreallana, by his Diredlion failed down the great 
River of the Amazons, quite to the Mouth of it, and 
from thence returned to the Spanijh Settlements on the 
other Side of the Continent of America which, confider- 
ing the Time at which it was performed, muft be ac- 
knowledged as great and furprizing as any of the Spanijh 
Enterprizes in the new World, and opened a Way to 
the Difeovery of Countries as rich and valuable as any 
that had been yet found. 
As for the Marquis Pizarro, after he had dif- 
patched his Brother Ferdinand to Spain, and employed 
his Brother Gonzalo in the Manner before mentioned, 
he applied himfelf folely to fecuring and eftabliffiing his 
Authority in order to which he thought it neceffaty to 
continue thofe Severities which had been ufed againft the 
Party of Almagro, and even to encreafe them ; for he not 
only difeharged many, and difeouraged all the Officers 
that had been attached t6 the old Marffial, but likewife 
reftrained them from going home to Spain on any Pre- 
tence whatever ; and at laft, feeing them reduced to live 
upon the Alms of fuch of their Countrymen as were 
more in his Favour, he refolved to deprive them even of 
this pitiful Subfiftance *, and with this View he publiffied 
an Edi( 5 t, forbiding any to relieve them ; which threw 
thofe unhappy Perfons into Defpair, and him into greater 
Danger from their Diftrefs, than he could ever reafona- 
bly have feared from their Power. 
For after the Publication of this Edidt they grew wild 
and defperate, and feeing no End to their Mifories, but 
by difpatching themfelves or the Marquis, or by a general 
Inftirredlion ^ they refolved upon this laft, and attempted 
it in this Manner : 
The braveft of xht Almagrians, fmgly, or two or three at 
a time, reforted privately to the capital City of Lima, where 
they did not want Friends who concealed them in their 
Houfes, till they found they amounted to two or three 
hundred Men, all hardy Veterans, and feveral experienced 
Officers amongft them, who refolved to attack the Mar- 
quis as he went to the great Church on Midfumm.er-day, 
1541; but he, having fome Intelligence of the Defign, 
did not go out of his Palace that Day, and the Con- 
fpirators, upon this Difappointment, had refolved to 
wait for the Arrival of Vaca de Cajlro, whom they un- 
derftood the Emperor had fent over. But being inform- 
ed that their Plot was difeovered, and they were in Dan- 
ger of being facrificed to the Fury of the Marquis, if 
they did not prevent it by fome bold Attempt, twelve 
of them met at the Houfe of young Almagro, which 
ftood on the Side of the great Square in Lima, on Sun- 
day the 26th of June, at Noon, and with their Swords 
drawn marched crofs the Market Place to the Palace of 
the Marquis, crying out “ Long live the King, but let the 
Tyrant die.” Nor were they oppofed by any, though 
there were not lefs than a thoufand People affem.bled in 
the Square nay not a Man ftirred to give the Marquis 
Intelligence of it infomuch that the Confpirators found 
the Gates of the Palace, and all the Doors, open •, and 
the firft Notice the Marquis had of their Approach, was 
by one of his Pages, after they had entered the Houfe ; 
T where- 
