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THE

HISTORY

G?figM
OF

A M E R I C A

BY WILLIAM ROBERTSON, D.D.

PRINCIPAL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH, HISTORIOGRAPHER

TO HIS MAJESTY FOR SCOTLAND, AND MEMBER OF THE

ROYAL ACADEMY OF HISTORY AT MADRID.

THE THIRTEENTH EDITION.
In which is included the Posthumous Volume,

CONTAINING

THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA TO THE YEAR 1668,
AND OF NEW ENGLAND, TO THE YEAR 1652.

IN FOUR VOLUMES.
VOL. III.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR CADELL AND DAVIES ; F. C. AND J. RIVINGTON ; G. WILKIE ;
J. NUNN ; J. CUTHELL ; LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN ;
E. JEFFERY; J. BOOKER; J. AND A. ARCH ; 8. BAGSTER ; J. AND T. GRAY;
JOHN RICHARDSON ; J. M. RICHARDSON ; CARPENTER AND SON ;
R. H. EVANS ; J. MURRAY ; W. PHILLIPS ; W. STEWART ; J. MAWMAN ;
BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY ; OGLE AND CO. ; GALE AND FENNER ;
R. S. KIRBY J AND W. H. REID.

1817.

.

THE

HISTORY

OP

AMERICA,

. BOOK V. continued.

AFTER a prosperous voyage, Narvaez B 0 o
landed his men without opposition near
St. Juan de Ulua. Three soldiers, whom
Cortes had sent to search for mines in that
district, immediately joined him. By this
accident he not only received information
concerning the progress and situation of
Cortes, but as these soldiers had made some
progress in the knowledge of the Mexican
language, he acquired interpreters, by whose
means he was enabled to hold some inter-
course with the people of the country. But,
according to the low cunning of deserters,
they framed their intelligence with more at-
tention to what they thought would be agree-
able, than to what they knew to be true; and
represented the situation of Cortes to be so
VOL. in. B

2 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK desperate, and the disaffection of his follow-
. _^L_. ers to be so general, as increased the natural
1520. confidence and presumption of Narvaez. His
first operation, however, might have taught
him not to rely on their partial accounts.
Having sent to summon the governor of Vera
Cruz to surrender, Guevara, a priest whom
he employed in that service, made the requi-
sition with such insolence, that Sandoval, an
officer of high spirit, and zealously attached
to Cortes, instead of complying with his de-
mands, seized him and his attendants, and
sent them in chains to Mexico.

Cortes CORTES received them not like enemies, but

as friends, and condemning the severity of
Sandoval, set them immediately at liberty.
By this well-timed clemency, seconded by ca-
resses and presents, he gained their confi-
dence, and drew from them such particulars
concerning the force and intentions of Nar-
vaez, as gave him a view of the impending
danger in its full extent. He had not to con-
tend now with half-naked Indians, no match
for him in war, and still more inferior in the
arts of policy, but to take the field against an
army in courage and martial discipline equal
to his own, in number far superior, acting
under the sanction of royal authority, and
commanded by an officer of known bravery.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 3

He was informed that Narvaez, more soli- BOOK
citous to gratify the resentment of Velasquez, L Vl_^
than attentive to the honour or interest of his ^so-
country, had begun his intercourse with the
natives, by representing him and his followers
as fugitives and outlaws, guilty of rebellion
against their own sovereign, and of injustice
in invading the Mexican empire; and had
declared that his chief object in visiting the
country was to punish the Spaniards who had
committed these crimes, and to rescue the
Mexicans from oppression. He soon perceived
that the same unfavourable representations of
his character and actions had been conveyed
to Montezuma, and that Narvaez had found
means to assure him, that as the conduct
of those who kept him under restraint was
highly displeasing to the King his master, he
had it in charge not only to rescue an injured
monarch from confinement, but to reinstate
him in the possession of his ancient power
and independence. Animated with this pro-
spect of being set free from subjection to
strangers, the Mexicans in several provinces
began openly to revolt from Cortes, and to
regard Narvaez as a deliverer no less able than
willing to save them. Montezuma himself
kept up a secret intercourse with the new
commander, and seemed to court him as a
B 2

4 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK person superior in power and dignity to those
v^, _/ Spaniards whom he had hitherto revered as
1 520. the first of men. a

His deli- SUCH were the various aspects of danger

berations i T/V» i t • i

concern- and difficulty which presented themselves to
ITw^con- tne VJew °^ Cortes. No situation can be con-
ceived more trying to the capacity and firm-
ness of a general, or where the choice of the
plan which ought to be adopted was more
difficult. If he should wait the approach of
Narvaez in Mexico, destruction seemed to be
unavoidable; for while the Spaniards pressed
him from without, the inhabitants, whose tur-
bulent spirit he could hardly restrain with all
his authority and attention, would eagerly lay
hold on such a favourable opportunity of
avenging all their wrongs. If he should aban-
don the capital, set the captive monarch at
liberty, and march out to meet the enemy;
he must at once forego the fruits of all his
toils and victories, and relinquish advantages
which could not be recovered without extra-
ordinary efforts and infinite danger. If, in-
stead of employing force, he should have re-
course to conciliating measures, and attempt
an accommodation with Narvaez ; the natural
haughtiness of that officer, augmented by con*

a See NOTE I.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 5

sciousness of his present superiority, forbad BOOK
him to cherish any sanguine hope of success. v-
After revolving every scheme with deep at- 1520.
tention, Cortes fixed upon that which in exe-
cution was most hazardous, but, if successful,
would prove most beneficial to himself and to
his country ; and with the decisive intrepidity
suited to desperate situations, determined to
make one bold effort for victory under every
disadvantage, rather than sacrifice his own
conquests and the Spanish interests in Mexico.

BUT though he foresaw that the contest Hisnegotu
must be terminated finally by arms, it would thefoiiow-
have been not only indecent, but criminal, to
have marched against his countrymen, with-
out attempting to adjust matters by an amica-
ble negotiation. In this service he employed
Olmedo, his chaplain, to whose character the
function was well suited, and who possessed,
besides, such prudence and address as qualified
him to carry on the secret intrigues in which
Cortes placed his chief confidence. Narvaez
rejected, with scorn, every scheme of accom-
modation that Olmedo proposed, and was with
difficulty restrained from laying violent hands
on him and his attendants. He met, how-
ever, with a more favourable reception among
the followers of Narvaez, to many of whom he
delivered letters, either from Cortes or his
B 3

ersofNar-
vaez.

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

1520.

BOOK officers, their ancient friends and companions.
v' Cortes artfully accompanied these with pre-
sents of rings, chains of gold, and other trin-
kets of value, which inspired those needy ad-
venturers with high ideas of the wealth that
he had acquired, and with envy of their good
fortune who were engaged in his service.
Some, from hopes of becoming sharers in those
rich spoils, declared for an immediate accom-
modation with Cortes. Others, from public
spirit, laboured to prevent a civil war, which,
whatever party should prevail, must shake,
and perhaps subvert the Spanish power, in a
country where it was so imperfectly estab-
lished. Narvaez disregarded both, and by a
public proclamation denounced Cortes and his
adherents rebels and enemies to their country.
Cortes, it is probable, was not much surprised
at the untractable arrogance of Narvaez ; and,
after having given such a proof of his own pa-
cific disposition as might justify his recourse
to other means, he determined to advance
towards an enemy whom he had laboured in
vain to appease.

Marches
against
him.
May.

HE left a hundred and fifty men in the ca-
pital, under the command of Pedro de Alva-
rado, an officer of distinguished courage, for
whom the Mexicans had conceived a singular
degree of respect. To the custody of this

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 7

slender garrison he committed a great city, BOOK
with all the wealth he had amassed, and, what L__7l_.
was still of greater importance, the person of 1520,
the imprisoned monarch. His utmost art was
employed in concealing from Montezuma the
real cause of his march. He laboured to per- <

suade him, that the strangers who had lately
arrived were his friends and fellow-subjects j
and that, after a short interview with them,
they would depart together, and return to
their own country. The captive prince, un-
able to comprehend the designs of the Spa^
niard, or to reconcile what he now heard with
the declarations of Narvaez, and afraid to dis-
cover any symptom of suspicion or distrust of
Cortes, promised to remain quietly in the Spa-
nish quarters, and to cultivate the same friend-
ship with Alvarado which he had uniformly
maintained with him. Cortes, with seeming
confidence in this promise, but relying prin-
cipally upon the injunctions which he had
given Alvarado to guard his prisoner with the
most scrupulous vigilance, set out from Mexico.

His strength, even after it was reinforced Number of
by the junction of Sandoval and the garrison
of Vera Cruz, did not exceed two hundred
and fifty men. As he hoped for success chiefly
from the rapidity of his motions, his troops
were not encumbered either with baggage or
* N B 4

g HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK artillery. But as he dreaded extremely th£
v- impression which the enemy might make with
1520. their cavalry, he had provided against this
danger with the foresight and sagacity which
distinguish a great commander. Having ob-
served that the Indians in the province of
Chinantla used spears of extraordinary length
and force, he armed his soldiers with these,
and accustomed them to that deep and com-
pact arrangement which the use of this for-
midable weapon, the best perhaps that ever
was invented for defence, enabled them to
assume.

continues WITH this small but firm battalion, Cortes
advanced towards Zempoalla, of which Nar-

e * vaez had taken possession. During his march,
he made repeated attempts towards some ac-
commodation with his opponent. But Nar-
vaez requiring that Cortes and his followers
should instantly recognise his title to be go-
vernor of New Spain, in virtue of the powers
which he derived from Velasquez ; and Cortes
refusing to submit to any authority which
was not founded on a commission from the
Emperor himself, under whose immediate
protection he and his adherents had placed
their infant colony ; all these attempts proved
fruitless. The intercourse, however, which
this occasioned between the two parties,

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 9

proved of no small advantage to Cortes, as B o o K
it afforded him an opportunity of gaining some L _^'.,
of Narvaez's officers by liberal presents, of 1520.
softening others by a semblance of moderation,
and of dazzling all by the appearance of wealth
among his troops, most of his soldiers having
converted their share of the Mexican gold into
chains, bracelets, and other ornaments, which
they displayed with military ostentation. Nar-
vaez and a little junto of his creatures ex-
cepted, all the army leaned towards an ac-
commodation with their countrymen. This
discovery of their inclination irritated his
violent temper almost to madness. In a trans-
port of rage, he set a price upon the head of
Cortes, and of his principal officers; and having
learned that he was now advanced within a
league of Zempoalla with his small body of
men, he considered this as an insult which
merited immediate chastisement, and marched
out with all his troops to offer him battle.

BUT Cortes was a leader of greater abilities Attacks
and experience than, on equal ground, to fight
an enemy so far superior in number, and so
much better appointed. Having taken his
station on the opposite bank of the river de
Canoas, where he knew that he could not be
attacked, he beheld the approach of the enemy
without concern, and disregarded this vain
bravade. It was then the beginning of the

10 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK wet season5, and the rain had poured down,
v- during a great part of the day, with the vio-
is2o. lence peculiar to the torridzone. The followers
of Narvaez, unaccustomed to the hardships of
military service, murmured so much at being
thus fruitlessly exposed, that, from their un-
soldier-like impatience, as well as his own con-
tempt of his adversary, their general permitted
them to retire to Zempoalla. The very cir-
cumstance which induced them to quit the
field, encouraged Cortes to form a scheme, by
which he hoped at once to terminate the war.
He observed, that his hardy veterans, though
standing under the torrents which continued
to fall, without a single tent or any shelter
whatsoever to cover them, were so far from re-
pining at hardships which were become fami-
liar to them, that they were still fresh and alert
for service. He foresaw that the enemy would
naturally give themselves up to repose after
their fatigue, and that, judging of the conduct
of others by their own effeminacy, they would
deem themselves perfectly secure at a season
so unfit for action. He resolved, therefore, to
fall upon them in the dead of night, when
the surprise and terror of this unexpected at-
tack might more than compensate the inferi-
ority of his numbers. His soldiers, sensible that

bHackluyt, vol. iii. 467. De Laet Descr. Ind. Occid. 221 .

HISTORY OF AMERICA. U

no resource remained but in some desperate BOOK
effort of courage, approved of the measure with v'
such warmth, that Cortes, in a military oration isao.
which he addressed to them before they began
their march, was more solicitous to temper
than to inflame their ardour. He divided them
into three parties. At the head of the first he
placed Sandoval ; intrusting this gallant officer
with the most dangerous and important ser-
vice, that of seizing the enemy's artillery,
which was planted before the principal tower
of the temple, where Narvaez had fixed his
head-quarters. Christoval de Olid commanded
the second, with orders to assault the tower,
and lay hold on the general. Cortes himself
conducted the third and smallest division,
which was to act as a body of reserve, and to
support the other two as there should be occa-
sion. Having passed the river de Canoas,
which was much swelled with the rains, not
without difficulty, the water reaching almost
to their chins, they advanced in profound
silence, without beat of drum, or sound of any
warlike instrument ; each man armed with his
sword, his dagger, and his Chinantlan spear.
Narvaez, remiss in proportion to his security,
had posted only two sentinels to watch the
motions of an enemy whom he had such good
cause to dread. One of these was seized by
the advanced guard of Cortes's troops, the

12 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK other made his escape, and hurrying to the

L v^ j town with all the precipitation of fear and zeal,

1520. gave such timely notice of the enemy's ap-

proach, that there was full leisure to have pre-

pared for their reception. But, through the

arrogance and infatuation of Narvaez, this im-

portant interval was lost. He imputed this

alarm to the cowardice of the sentinel, and

treated with derision the idea of being at-

tacked by forces so unequal to his own. The

shouts of Cortes's soldiers, rushing on to the

assault, convinced him at last that the danger

which he despised was real. The rapidity with

which they advanced was such, that only one

cannon could be fired, before Sandoval's

party closed with the enemy, drove them from

their guns, and began to force their way up

the steps of the tower. Narvaez, no less

brave in action than presumptuous in con-

duct, armed himself in haste, and by his voice

and example animated his men to the combat.

Olid advanced to sustain his companions ;

and Cortes himself rushing to the front,

conducted and added new vigour to the at-

tack. The compact order in which this small

body pressed on, and the impenetrable front

which they presented with their 1 ong spears,

and over- bore down all opposition before it. They had

omebhirc. an(j were struggling

to burst it open, when a soldier having set fire

HISTORY OF AMERICA, 13

to the reeds with which the tower was covered, BOOK
compelled Narvaez to sally out. In the first v _T-_.
encounter he was wounded in the eye with a 1520.
spear, and, falling to the ground, was dragged
down the steps, and in a moment clapt in
fetters. The cry of victory resounded among
the troops of Cortes. Those who had sallied
out with their leader now maintained the con-
flict feebly, and began to surrender. Among
the remainder of his soldiers, stationed in two
smaller towers of the temple, terror and con-
fusion prevailed. The darkness was so great,
that they could not distinguish between their
friends and foes. Their own artillery was
pointed against them. Wherever they turned
their eyes, they beheld lights gleaming through
the obscurity of night, which, though pro-
ceeding only from a variety of shining insects,
that abound in moist and sultry climates,
their affrighted imaginations represented as
numerous bands of musketeers advancing with
kindled matches to the attack. After a short
resistance, the soldiers compelled their officers
to capitulate, and before morning all laid down
their arms, and submitted quietly to their con-
querors.

THIS complete victory proved more accept- The effects
able, as it was gained almost without blood- °ory,ls
shed, only two soldiers being killed on the side

14 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

B o o K of Cortes, and two officers, with fifteen private
v V' ^ men, of the adverse faction. Cortes treated
1520. the vanquished not like enemies, but as coun-
trymen and friends, and offered either to send
them back directly -to Cuba, or to take them
into his service, as partners in his fortune, on
equal terms with his own soldiers. This latter
proposition, seconded by a seasonable distribu-
tion of some presents from Cortes, and liberal
promises of more, opened prospects so agree-
able to the romantic expectations which had
invited them to engage in this service, that all,
a few partisans of Narvaez excepted, closed
with it, and vied with each other in professions
of fidelity and attachment to a general, whose
recent success had given them such a striking
proof of his abilities for command. Thus, by
a series of events no less fortunate than uncom-
mon, Cortes not only escaped from perdition
which seemed inevitable, but, when he had
least reason to expect it, was placed at the head
of a thousand Spaniards, ready to follow where-
ever he should lead them. Whoever reflects
upon the facility with which this victory was
obtained, or considers with what sudden and
unanimous transition the followers of Narvaez
ranged themselves under the standard of his
rival, will be apt to ascribe both events as much
to the intrigues as to the arms of Cortes, and
cannot but suspect that the ruin of Narvaez was

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 15

occasioned, no less by the treachery of his own BOOK
followers, than by the valour of the enemy.c . ^',

1520.

BUT, in one point, the prudent conduct and The Me*i-
good fortune of Cortes were equally conspicu- arms

r_ against the

ous. It, by the rapidity or his operations alter Spaniards.
he began his march, he had not brought mat-
ters to such a speedy issue, even this decisive
victory would have come too late to have saved
his companions whom he left in Mexico. A
few days after the discomfiture of Narvaez, a
courier arrived with an account that the Mex-
icans had taken arms, and having seized and
destroyed the two brigantines, which Cortes
had built in order to secure the command of
the lake, and attacked the Spaniards in their .
quarters, had killed several of them, and
wounded more, had reduced to ashes their ma-
gazine of provisions, and carried on hostilities
with such fury, that though Alvarado and his
men defended themselves with undaunted re-
solution, they must either be soon cut off by
famine, or sink under the multitude of their
enemies. This revolt was excited by motives
which rendered it still more alarming. On the
departure of Cortes for Zempoalla, the Mexi-
cans flattered themselves, that the long ex-
pected opportunity of restoring their sovereign

c Cortes Relat. 242. D. B. Diaz. c. 110—125. Herrera,
dec. 2. lib. ix. c. 18, &c. Gomara Cron. c. 97, &c.

16 HISTORY OF AMERICA,

BOOK to liberty, and of vindicating their country
L__yi_J from the odious dominion of strangers, was at
1520. length arrived ; that while the forces of their
oppressors were divided, and the arms of one
party turned against- the other, they might
triumph with greater facility over both. Con-
sultations were held, and schemes formed
with this intention. The Spaniards in Mexico,
conscious of their own feebleness, suspected
and dreaded those machinations. Alvarado,
though a gallant officer, possessed neither that
extent of capacity, nor dignity of manners by
which Cortes had acquired such an ascendant
over the minds of the Mexicans, as never
allowed them to form a just estimate of his
weakness or of their own strength. Alvarado
knew no mode of supporting his authority
but force. Instead of employing address to
disconcert the plans, or to soothe the spirits
of the Mexicans, he waited the return of
one of their solemn festivals, when the prin-
cipal persons in the empire were dancing, ac-
cording to custom, in the court of the great
temple ; he seized all the avenues which led
to it, and, allured partly by the rich orna-
ments which they wore in honour of their
gods, and partly by the facility of cutting off
at once the authors of that conspiracy which
he dreaded, he fell upon them, unarmed and
unsuspicious of any danger, and massacred a

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 17

great number, none escaping but such as made BOOK
their way over the battlements of the temple. t -V-^
An action so cruel and treacherous filled not 152°-
only the city, but the whole empire with indig-
nation and rage. All called aloud for venge-
ance; and regardless of the safety of their
monarch, whose life was at the mercy of the
Spaniards, or of their own danger in assaulting
an enemy who had been so long the object of
their terror, they committed all those acts of
violence of which Cortes received an account.

To him the danger appeared so imminent, He
as to admit neither of deliberation nor delay, back to the
He set out instantly with all his forces, and re- caPltal-
turned from Zempoalla with no less rapidity
than he had advanced thither. At Tlascala
he was joined by two thousand chosen warriors,
On entering the Mexican territories he found
that disaffection to the Spaniards was not con-
fined to the capital. The principal inhabitants
had deserted the towns through which he
passed ; no person of note appearing to meet
him with the usual respect ; no provision was
made for the subsistence of his troops ; and
though he was permitted to advance without
opposition, the solitude and silence which
reigned in every place, and the horror with
which the people avoided all intercourse with
him, discovered a deep-rooted antipathy, that

VOL. ni. c

18 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK excited the most just alarm. But implacable

^^ , as the enmity of the Mexicans was, they were

1520. so unacquainted with the science of war, that
they knew not how to take the proper measures,
either for their own safety or the destruction
of the Spaniards. Uninstructed by their for-
mer error in admitting a formidable enemy
into their capital, instead of breaking down
the causeways and bridges, by which they
June 24. might have inclosed Alvarado and his party,
and have effectually stopped the career of
Cortes, they again suffered him to march into
the city without molestation, and to take quiet
possession of his ancient station.

improper THE transports of joy with which Alvarado
Cortes?*0 an^ his soldiers received their companions
cannot be expressed. Both parties were so
much elated, the one with their seasonable de-
liverance, and the other with the g*eat exploits
which they had achieved, that this intoxica-
tion of success seems to have reached Cortes
himself; and he behaved on this occasion
neither with his usual sagacity nor attention.
He not only neglected to visit Montezuma,
but imbittered the insult by expressions full
of contempt for that unfortunate prince and
his people. The forces of which he had now
the command, appeared to him so irresistible,
that he might assume an higher tone, and lay

13

HISTORY OF AMERICA. ig

aside the mask of moderation, under which he BOOK
had hitherto concealed his designs. Some v V'_,
Mexicans, who understood the Spanish Ian- 1520.
guage, heard the contemptuous words which
Cortes uttered, and reporting them to their
countrymen, kindled their rage anew. They
were now convinced that the intentions of the
general were equally bloody with those of
Alvarado, and that his original purpose in vi-
siting their country, had not been, as he pre-
tended, to court the alliance of their sovereign,
but to attempt the conquest of his dominions.
They resumed their arms with the additional The
fury which this discovery inspired, attacked hostility of
a considerable body of Spaniards who were
marching towards the great square in which
the public market was held, and compelled
them to retire with some loss. Imboldened
by this success, and delighted to find that
th^ir oppressors were not invincible, they ad-
vanced next day with extraordinary martial
pomp to assault the Spaniards in their quar-
ters. Their number was formidable, and their
undaunted courage still more so. Though the
artillery pointed against their numerous bat-
talions, crowded together in narrow streets,
swept off multitudes at every discharge j
though every blow of the Spanish weapons
fell with mortal effect upon their naked bodies,
the impetuosity of the assault did not abate.
c 2

cans.

20 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK Fresh men rushed forward to occupy the places
, _'_.. _j of the slain, and meeting with the same fate,
i52o. were succeeded by others no less intrepid and
eager for vengeance. The utmost efforts of
Cortes's abilities and experience, seconded by
the disciplined valour of his troops, were hardly
sufficient to defend the fortifications, that sur-
rounded the post where the Spaniards were
stationed, into which the enemy were more
than once on the point of forcing their way.

Distress of CORTES beheld, with wonder, the implaca-
niard£a~ ble ferocity of a people who seemed at first to
submit tamely to the yoke, and had continued
so long passive under it. The soldiers of Nar-
vaez, who fondly imagined that they followed
Cortes to share in the spoils of a conquered
empire, were astonished to find that they were
involved in a dangerous war, with an enemy
whose vigour was still unbroken, and loudly
execrated their own weakness, in giving such
easy credit to the delusive promises of their
new leader. d But surprise and complaints
were of no avail. Some immediate and ex-
traordinary effort was requisite to extricate
themselves out of their present situation.
As soon as the approach of evening ^n-
duced the Mexicans to retire, in compliance

d B. Diaz, c< 126.

success.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 21

with their national custom of ceasing from hos- BOOK
tiiities with the setting sun, Cortes began to .^_V1 .
prepare for a sally, next day, with such a 1520.
considerable force, as might either drive the
enemy out of the city, or compel them to
listen to terms of accommodation.

HE conducted, in person, the troops destined Cones at-

. . tacks them

for this important service. Every invention without
known in the European art of war, as well as
every precaution, suggested by his long ac-
quaintance with the Indian mode of fighting,
were employed to insure success. But he found
an enemy prepared and determined to oppose
him. ' The force of the Mexicans was greatly
augmented by fresh troops, which' poured in
continually from the country, and their ani-
mosity was in no degree abated. They were
led by their nobles, inflamed by the exhorta-
tions of their priests, and fought in defence of
their temples and families, under the eye of
their gods, and in presence of their wives and
children. Notwithstanding their numbers,
and enthusiastic contempt of danger and death,
wherever the Spaniards could close with them,
the superiority of their discipline and arms
obliged the Mexicans to give way. But in
narrow streets, and where many of the bridges
of communication were broken down, the Spa-
niards could seldom come to a fair rencounter
c 3

&2 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK with the enemy, and as they advanced, were
s_ _, exposed to showers of arrows and stones from
i52o. the tops of houses. After a day of incessant
exertion, though vast numbers of the Mexi-
cans fell, and part of the city was burnt, the
Spaniards, weary with the slaughter, and ha-
rassed by multitudes which successively re-
lieved each other, were obliged at length to
retire, with the mortification of having accom-
plished nothing so decisive as to compensate
the unusual calamity of having twelve soldiers
killed, and above sixty wounded. Another
sally, made with greater force, was not more
effectual, and in it the general himself was
wounded in the hand.

Monte- CORTES now perceived, too late, the fatal

zuma slain. .

error into which he had been betrayed by his
own contempt of the Mexicans, and was satis-
fied that he could neither maintain his present
station in the centre of an hostile city, nor re-
tire from it without the most imminent danger.
One resource still remained, to try what effect
the interposition of Montezuma might have
to soothe or overawe his subjects. When the
Mexicans approached next morning to renew
the assault, that unfortunate prince, at the
mercy of the Spaniards, and reduced to the
sad necessity of becoming the instrument of
his own disgrace, and of the slavery of his

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 23

people6, advanced to the battlements in his BOOK
royal robes, and with all the pomp in which he ^^^
used to appear on solemn occasions. At sight 152a
of their sovereign, whom they had long been
accustomed to honour, and almost to revere as
a god, the weapons dropped from their hands,
every tongue was silent, all bowed their heads,
and many prostrated themselves on the ground.
Montezuma addressed them with every argu-
ment that could mitigate their rage, or per-
suade them to cease from hostilities. When
he ended his discourse, a sullen murmur of
disapprobation run through the ranks; to this
succeeded reproaches and threats; and the
fury of the multitude rising in a moment above
every restraint of decency or respect, flights
of arrows and volleys of stones poured in so
violently upon the ramparts, that before the
Spanish soldiers, appointed to cover Monte-
zuma with their bucklers, had time to lift
them in his defence, two arrows wounded the
unhappy monarch, and the blow of a stone on
his temple struck him to the ground. On
seeing him fall, the Mexicans were so much
astonished, that with a transition not uncom-
mon in popular tumults, they passed in a mo-
ment from one extreme to the other, remorse
succeeded to insult, and they fled with horror,
as if the vengeance of Heaven were pursuing

c See NOTE II.
c 4-

24 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK the crime which they had committed. The
v> Spaniards without molestation carried Monte-
1520. zuma to his apartments, and Cortes hastened
thither to console him under his misfortune.
But the unhappy monarch now perceived how
low he Was sunk, and the haughty spirit which
seemed to have been so long extinct, returning,
he scorned to survive this last humiliation, and
to protract an ignominious life, not only as the
prisoner and tool of his enemies, but as the
object of contempt or detestation among his
subjects. In a transport of rage he tore the
bandages from his wounds, and refused, with
such obstinacy, to take any nourishment, that
he soon ended his wretched days, rejecting
with disdain all the solicitations of the Spa-
niards to embrace the Christian faith.

New con- UPON the death of Montezuma, Cortes
having lost all hope of bringing the Mexicans
to an accommodation, saw no prospect of
safety but in attempting a retreat, and began
to prepare for it. But a sudden motion of
the Mexicans engaged him in new conflicts.
They took possession of a high tower in the
great temple which overlooked the Spanish
quarters, and placing there a garrison of their
principal warriors, not a Spaniard could stir
without being exposed to their missile weapons.
From this post it was necessary to dislodge

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 25

them at any risk ; and Juan de Escobar, with BOOK
a numerous detachment of chosen soldiers, was v_^'_^
ordered to make the attack. But Escobar, 1520.
though a gallant officer, and at the head of
troops accustomed to conquer, and who now
fought under the eyes of their countrymen,
was thrice repulsed. Cortes, sensible that not
only the reputation, but the safety of his
army depended on the success of this assault,
ordered a buckler to be tied to his arm, as he
could not manage it with his wounded hand,
and rushed with his drawn sword into the
thickest of the combatants. Encouraged by
the presence of their general, the Spaniards
returned to the charge with such vigour, that
they gradually forced their way up the steps,
and drove the Mexicans to the platform at
the top of the tower. There a dreadful car-
nage began, when two young Mexicans of high
rank, observing Cortes as he animated his
soldiers by his voice and example, resolved to
sacrifice their own lives in order to cut off the
author of all the calamities which desolated
their country. They approached him in a
supplicant posture, as if they had intended to
lay down their arms, and seizing him in a
moment, hurried him towards the battle-
ments over which they threw themselves
headlong, in hopes of dragging him along to
be dashed in pieces by the same fall. But

06 HISTORY OF AMERICA

BOOK Cortes, by his strength and agility, broke loose
v- from their grasp, and the gallant youths pe-
1520. rished in this generous though unsuccessful
attempt to save their country/ As soon as
the Spaniards became masters of the tower,
they set fire to it, and, without farther moles-
tation, continued the preparations for their
retreat.

The Spa- THIS became the more necessary, as the
abandon Mexicans were so much astonished at the last
effort of the Spanish valour, that they began to
change their whole system of hostility, and,
instead of incessant attacks, endeavoured, by
barricading the streets, and breaking down
the causeways, to cut off the communication
of the Spaniards with the continent, and thus
to starve an enemy whom they could not sub-
due. The first point to be determined by
Cortes and his followers, was, whether they
should march out openly in the face of day,
when they could discern every danger, and see
how to regulate their own motions, as well as

f M. Clavigero has censured me with asperity for relat-
ing this gallant action of the two Mexicans, and for sup-
posing that there were battlements round the temple of
Mexico. I related the attempt to destroy Cortes on the
authority of Her. dec. 2. lib. x. c. 9. and of Torquemado,
lib. 4% c. 69. I followed them likewise in supposing the
uppermost platform of the temple to be encompassed by a
battlement or rail.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 27

how to resist the assaults of the enemy ; or, B O 0 K
whether they should endeavour to retire se-
cretly in the night ? The latter was preferred, j 520.
partly from hopes that their national super-
stition would restrain the Mexicans from ven-
turing to attack'them in the night, and partly
from their own fond belief in the predictions
of a private soldier, who, having acquired uni-
versal credit by a smattering of learning, and
his pretensions to astrology, boldly assured his
countrymen of success, if they made their
retreat in this manner. They began to move,
towards midnight, in three divisions. Sandoval
led the van ; Pedro Alvarado, and Velasquez
de Leon, had the conduct of the rear ; and
Cortes commanded in the centre, where he
placed the prisoners, among whom were a
son and two daughters of Montezuma, toge-
ther with several Mexicans of distinction, the
artillery, the baggage, and a portable bridge
of timber, intended to be laid over the breaches
in the causeway. They marched in profound
silence along the causeway which led to
Tacuba, because it was shorter than any of
the rest, and, lying most remote from the road
towards Tlascala and the sea-coast, had been
left more entire by the Mexicans. They
reached the first breach in it without mo-
lestation, hoping that their retreat was un-
discovered.

og HISTORY OF AMERICA*

BOOK BUT the Mexicans, unperceived, had not
v- only watched all their motions with attention,
but had made proper dispositions for a most
by the formidable attack. While the Spaniards were
Mexicans. jnj-enj. Upon placing their bridge in the breach,
and occupied in conducting their horses and
artillery along it, they were suddenly alarmed
with a tremendous sound of warlike instru-
ments, and a general shout from an innumer-
able multitude of enemies ; the lake was co-
vered with canoes ; , flights of arrows, and
showers of stones poured in upon them from
every quarter ; the Mexicans rushing forward
to the charge with fearless impetuosity, as if
they hoped in that moment to be avenged for
all their wrongs. Unfortunately the wooden
bridge, by the weight of the artillery, was
wedged so fast into the stones and mud, that it
was impossible to remove it. Dismayed at this
accident, the Spaniards advanced with precipi-
tation towards the second breach. The Mexi-
cans hemmed them in on every side, and though
they defended themselves with their usual cou-
rage, yet crowded together as they were on a nar-
row causeway, their discipline and military skill
were of little avail, nor did the obscurity of the
night permit them to derive great advantage
from their fire-arms, or the superiority of their
other weapons. All Mexico was now in arms,
and so eager were the people on the destruction

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 29

of their oppressors, that they who were not near BOOK
enough to annoy them in person, impatient of t_ _^1. ,
the delay, pressed forward with such ardour, as 152°-
drove on their countrymen in the front with
irresistible violence. Fresh warriors instantly
filled the place of such as fell. The Spaniards,
weary with slaughter, and unable to sustain
the weight of the torrent that poured in upon
them, began to give way. In a moment the
confusion was universal ; horse and foot, offi-
cers and soldiers, friends and enemies, were
mingled together ; and while all fought, and
many fell, they could hardly distinguish from
what hand the blow came.

CORTES, with about a hundred foot soldiers Their ais-
and a few horse, forced his way over the two
remaining breaches in the causeway, the bodies
of the dead serving to fill up the chasms, and
reached the main land. Having formed them
as soon as they arrived, he returned with such
as were yet capable of service, to assist his
friends in their retreat, and to encourage
them, by his presence and example, to per-
severe in the efforts requisite to effect it. He
met with part of his soldiers, who had broke
through the enemy, but found many more
overwhelmed by the multitude of their aggres-
sors, or perishing in the lake ; and heard the
piteous lamentations of others, whom the

30 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK Mexicans, having taken alive, were carrying
V_-T- ._, off in triumph to be sacrificed to the god of
1520. wan Before day, all who had escaped assem-
bled at Tacuba. But when the morning
dawned, and discovered to the view of Cortes,
his shattered battalion, reduced to less than
half its number, the survivors dejected, and
most of them covered with wounds, the
thoughts of what they had suffered, and the re-
membrance of so many faithful friends and
gallant followers who had fallen in that night
of sorrow5, pierced his soul with such anguish,
that while he was forming their ranks, and is-
suing some necessary orders, his soldiers ob-
served the tears trickling from his eyes, and
remarked, with much satisfaction, that while
attentive to the duties of a general, he was not
insensible to the feelings of a man.

and loss. IN this fatal retreat many officers of distinc-
tion perished h, and among these Velasquez de
Leon, who having forsaken the party of his
kinsman, the governor of Cuba, to follow the
fortune of his companions, was, on that ac-
count, as well as for his superior merit, re-
spected by them as the second person in the
army. All the artillery, ammunition, and bag-

3 Noche Triste is the name by which it is still distin-
guished in New Spain.
h See NOTE III.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 31

gage, were lost ; the greater part of the horses, BOOK
and above two thousand Tlascalans, were killed, ,_ v^ _J
and only a very small portion of the treasure 152°-
which they had amassed was saved. This,
which had been always their chief object,
proved a great cause of their calamity ; for
many of the soldiers having so overloaded
themselves with bars of gold as rendered them
unfit for action, and retarded their flight, fell,
ignominiously, the victims of their own incon-
siderate avarice. Amidst so many disasters,
it was some consolation to find that Aguilar
and Marina, whose function as interpreters
was of such essential importance, had made
their escape.1

THE first care of Cortes was to find some Difficult
shelter for his wearied troops ; for as the Mexi- th^Spa-
cans infested them on every side, and the people mards'
of Tacuba began to take arms, he could not
continue in his present station. He directed his
march towards the rising ground, and having
fortunately discovered a temple situated on an
eminence, took possession of it. There he found
not only the shelter for which he wished, but,
what was no less wanted, some provisions to
refresh his men ; and though the enemy did

1 Cortes Relat. p. 24-8. B. Diaz. c. 128. Gomara Cron.
c. 109. Herrera, dec. 2. lib. x. c. 11, 12.

32 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK not intermit their attacks throughout the day,
they were with less difficulty prevented from
making any impression. During this time
Cortes was engaged in deep consultation with
his officers, concerning the route which they
ought to take in their retreat. They were
now on the west side of the lake. Tlascala,
the only place where they could hope for a
friendly reception, lay about sixty-four miles
to the east of Mexico k ; so that they were
obliged to go round the north end of the lake
before they could fall into the road which led
thither. A Tlascalan soldier undertook to b6
their guide, and conducted them through a
country, in some places marshy, in others moun-
tainous, in all ill-cultivated and thinly peopled.
They marched for six days with little respite,
and under continual alarms, numerous bodies
of the Mexicans hovering around them, some-
times harassing them at a distance with their
missile weapons, and sometimes attacking them
closely in front, in rear, in flank, with great
boldness, as they now knew that they were
not invincible. Nor were the fatigue and
danger of those incessant conflicts the worst
evils to which they were exposed. As the
barren country through which they passed af-
fordedhardly any provisions, they were reduced

k Villa Segnor Teatro Americanos, lib. ii. c. 11.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 33

to feed on berries, roots, and the stalks of B o O K
green maize ; and at the very time that famine . L ,
was depressing their spirits and wasting their 152a
strength, their situation required the most
vigorous and unremitting exertions of courage
and activity. Amidst those complicated dis-
tresses, one circumstance supported and ani-
mated the Spaniards. Their commander sus-
tained this sad reverse of fortune with un-
shaken magnanimity. His presence of mind
never forsook him ; his sagacity foresaw every
event, and his vigilance provided for it. He
was foremost in every danger, and endured
every hardship with cheerfulness. The diffi-
culties with which he was surrounded seemed
to call forth new talents ; and his soldiers,
though despairing themselves, continued to
follow him with increasing confidence in his
abilities.

ON the sixth day they arrived near to Otum- Battle of
ba, not far from the road between Mexico and
Tlascala. Early next morning they began to
advance towards it, flying parties of the enemy
still hanging on their rear ; and, amidst the
insults with which they accompanied their
hostilities, Marina remarked that they often
exclaimed with exultation, "Go on, robbers;
go to the place where you shall quickly meet
the vengeance due to your crimes." The

VOL. in. D

36 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK meaning of this threat the Spaniards did not
,_^_v comprehend, until they reached the summit of
1520, an eminence before them. There a spacious
valley opened to their view, covered with a vast
army, extending as far as the eye could reach.
The Mexicans, while with one body of their
troops they harassed the Spaniards in their
retreat, had assembled their principal force on
the other side of the lake ; and marching along
the road which led directly to Tlascala, posted
it in the plain of Otumba, through which they
knew Cortes must pass. At the sight of this
incredible multitude, which they could survey
at once from the rising ground, the Spaniards
•frere astonished, and even the boldest began
to despair. But Cortes, without allowing leisure
for their fears to acquire strength by reflection,
after warning them briefly that no alternative
now remained but to conquer or to die, led
them instantly to the charge. The Mexicans
waited their approach with unusual fortitude.
Such, however, was the superiority of the
Spanish discipline and arms, that the impression
of this small body was irresistible ; and which-
ever way its force was directed, it penetrated
and dispersed the most numerous battalions.
But while these gave way in one quarter, new
combatants advanced from another, and the
Spaniards, though successful in every attack,
were ready to sink under those repeated efforts,

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 35

without seeing any end of their toil, or any BOOK
hope of victory. At that time Cortes observed
the great standard of the empire, which was
carried before the Mexican general, advanc-
ing; and fortunately recollecting to have
heard, that on the fate of it depended the
event of every battle, he assembled a few of
his bravest officers, whose horses were still ca-
pable of service, and placing himself at their
head, pushed forward towards the standard
with an impetuosity which bore down every
thing before it. A chosen body of nobles, who
guarded the standard, made some resistance,
but were soon broken. Cortes, with a stroke of
his lance, wounded the Mexican general, and
threw him to the ground. One of the Spanish
officers alighting, put an end to his life, and
laid hold of the imperial standard. The mo-
ment that their leader fell, and the standard,
towards which all directed their eyes, dis-
appeared, an universal panic struck the Mexi-
cans, and, as if the bond which held them
together had been dissolved, every ensign was
lowered, each soldier threw away his weapons,
and all fled with precipitation to the mountains*
The Spaniards, unable to pursue them far,
returned to collect the spoils of the field, which
were so valuable, as to be some compensation
for the wealth which they had lost in Mexico ;
for in the enemy's army were most of their
D 2

36 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK principal warriors, dressed out in their richest
ornaments, as if they had been marching to
assured victory. Next day, to their great joy,
they entered the Tlascalan territories. l

Reception BUT amidst their satisfaction in having got
riardsm*" beyond the precincts of an hostile country,
Tiascaia. ^ey could not look forward without solicitude,
as they were still uncertain what reception
they might meet with from allies, to whom
they returned in a condition very different
from that in which they had lately set out from
their dominions. Happily for them, the en-
mity of the Tlascalans to the Mexican name
was so inveterate, their desire to avenge the
death of their countrymen so vehement, and
the ascendant which Cortes had acquired over
the chiefs of the republic so complete, that far
from entertaining a thought of taking any
advantage of the distressed situation in which
they beheld the Spaniards, they received them
with a tenderness and cordiality which quickly
dissipated all their suspicions.

New deli- SOME interval of tranquillity and indulgence
was now absolutely necessary ; not only that
the Spaniards might give attention to the cure
of their wounds, which had been too long

1 Cortes Rclat. p. 219. B.Diaz, c. 128. GomaraCron,
c. 110. Herrera, dec. 2. lib.x. c.12, 13.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 37

neglected, but in order to recruit their strength, BOOK
exhausted by such a long succession of fatigue t_ ^'__,
and hardships. During this, Cortes learned 1 520-
th at he and his companions were not the only
Spaniards who had felt the effects of the Mexi-
can enmity. A considerable detachment which
was marching from Zempoalla towards the ca-
pital, had been cut offby the people of Tepeaca.
A smaller party, returning from Tlascala to
Vera Cruz, with the share of the Mexican gold
allotted to the garrison, had been surprised and
destroyed in the mountains. At a juncture
when the life of every Spaniard was of im-
portance, such losses were deeply felt. The
schemes which Cortes was meditating rendered
them peculiarly afflictive to him. While his
enemies, and even many of his own followers,
considered the disasters which had befallen him
as fatal to the progress of his arms, and ima-
gined that nothing now remained but speedily
to abandon a country which he had invaded
with unequal force, his mind, as eminent for
perseverance as for enterprise, was still bent
on accomplishing his original purpose, of sub-
jecting the Mexican empire to the crown of
Castile. Severe and unexpected as the check
was which he had received, it did not appear
to him a sufficient reason for relinquishing the
conquests which he had already made, or
against resuming his operations with better
D 3

38 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK better hopes of success. The colony at Vera

^_J^ , Cruz was not only safe, but had remained un-

1520. molested. The people of Zempoalla and the
adjacent districts had discovered no symptoms
of defection. The Tlascalans continued faith-
ful to their alliance. On their martial spirit,
easily roused to arms, and inflamed with im-
placable hatred of the Mexicans, Cortes de-
pended for powerful aid. He had still the
command of a body of Spaniards, equal in
number to that with which he had opened his
way into the centre of the empire, and had
taken possession of the capital ; so that with
the benefit of greater experience, as well as
more perfect knowledge of the country, he
did not despair of quickly recovering all that
he had been deprived of by untoward events.

The mea- FULL of this idea, he courted the Tlascalan

sures he

takes. chiefs with such attention, and distributed
among them so liberally the rich spoils of
Otumba, that he was secure of obtaining
whatever he should require of the republic.
He drew a small supply of ammunition, and
two or three field-pieces, from his stores at
Vera Cruz. He dispatched an officer of con-
fidence with four ships of Narvaez's fleet to
Hispaniola and Jamaica, to engage adven-
turers, and to purchase horses, gunpowder,
and other military stores. As he knew that it
14

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 39

would be vain to attempt the reduction of B o o K
Mexico, unless he could secure the command
of the lake, he gave orders to prepare, in the
mountains of Tlascala, materials for building
twelve brigantines, so as they might be carried
thither in pieces ready to be put together,
and launched when he stood in need of their
service**

BUT while, with provident attention, he was Mutinous

... , . spirit of hia.

taking those necessary steps towards the exe- troops.
cution of his measures, an obstacle arose in a
quarter where it was least expected, but most
formidable. The spirit of discontent and mu-
tiny broke out in his own army* Many of
Narvaez's followers were planters rather than
soldiers, and had accompanied him to New
Spain with sanguine hopes of obtaining settle-
ments, but with little inclination to engage in
the hardships and dangers of war. As the
same motives had induced them to enter into
their new engagements with Cortes, they no
sooner became acquainted with the nature of
the service, than they bitterly repented of
their choice. Such of them as had the good
fortune to survive the perilous adventures in
which their own imprudence had involved
them, happy in having made their escape,

m Cortes Relat. p. 253. E. Gomara Oon. c. 117.
D 4.

40 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK trembled at the thoughts of being exposed a

v ^ . second time to similar calamities. ^ As soon as

mo. they discovered the intention of Cortes, they
began secretly to murmur and cabal, and
waxing gradually more audacious, they, in
a body, offered a remonstrance to their ge-
neral against the imprudence of attacking a
powerful empire with his shattered forces,
and formally required him to lead them back
directly to Cuba. Though Cortes, long prac-
tised in the arts of command, employed ar-
guments, entreaties, and presents to convince
or to soothe them ; though his own soldiers, '
animated with the spirit of their leader,
warmly seconded his endeavours ; he found
their fears too violent and deep-rooted to be
removed, and the utmost he could effect was
to prevail with them to defer their departure
for some time, on a promise that he would, at
a more proper juncture, dismiss such as Should
desire it.

Means he THAT the malecontents might have no leisure
revive * to brood over the causes of their disaffection, he
fidence°n~ resolved instantly to call forth his troops into
action. He proposed to chastise the people of
Tepeaca for the outrage which they had com-
mitted, and as the detachment which they had
cut off happened to be composed mostly of
soldiers who had served under Narvaez, their

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 4J

companions, from the desire of vengeance, B 0^ o K
engaged the more willingly in this war. He
took the command in person accompanied
by a numerous body of Tlascalans, and in the
space of a few weeks, after various encounters,
with great slaughter of the Tepeacans, reduced
that province to subjection. During several
months, while he waited for the supplies of
men and ammunition which he expected, and
was carrying on his preparations for construct-
ing the brigantines, he kept his troops con-
stantly employed in various expeditions against
the adjacent provinces, all of which were con*
ducted with an uniform tenour of success. By
these, his men became again accustomed to
victory, and resumed their wonted sense of su-
periority; the Mexican power was weakened;
the Tlascalan warriors acquired the habit of
acting in conjunction with the Spaniards; and
the chiefs of the republic delighted to see
their country enriched with the spoils of all
the people around them, and astonished every
day with fresh discoveries of the irresistible
prowess of their allies, they declined no effort
requisite to support them.

ALL those preparatory arrangements, how- gtrenfftll.
ever, though the most prudent and efficacious ened bJ

^^ SCVCf&l

which the situation of Cortes allowed him to reinforce-
make, would have been of little avail, without

42 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK a reinforcement of Spanish soldiers. Of this he
was so deeply sensible, that it was the chief
object of his thoughts and wishes; and yet hig
only prospect of obtaining it from the return
of the officer whom he had sent to the isles
to solicit aid, was both distant and uncertain.
But what neither his own sagacity nor power
could have procured, he owed to a series of
fortunate and unforeseen incidents. The go-
vernor of Cuba, to whom the success of Nar-
vaez appeared an event of infallible certainty,
having sent two small ships after him with new
instructions, and a supply of men and military
stores, the officer whom Cortes had appointed
to command on the coast, artfully decoyed
them into the harbour of Vera Cruz, seized
the vessels, and easily persuaded the soldiers
to follow the standard of a more able leader
than him whom they were destined to join.*
Soon after, three ships of more considerable
force came into the harbour separately. These
belonged to an armament fitted out by Fran-
cisco de Garay, governor of Jamaica, who,
being possessed with the rage of discovery and
conquest which animated every Spaniard set-
tled in America, had long aimed at intruding
into some district of New Spain, and dividing
with Cortes the glory and gain of annexing

n B. Diaz. c. 131.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 43

that empire to the crown of Castile. They un- BOOK
advisedly made their attempt on the northern v-
provinces, where the country was poor, and 1520.
the people fierce and warlike; and after a
cruel succession of disasters, famine compelled
them to venture into Vera Cruz, and cast
themselves upon the mercy of their country-
men. Their fidelity was not proof against the Octo-
splendid hopes and promises which had seduced
other adventurers, and, as if the spirit of revolt
had been contagious in New Spain, they like-
wise abandoned the master whom they were
bound to serve, and enlisted under Cortes.0
Nor was it America alone that furnished such
unexpected aid ; a ship arrived from Spain,
freighted by some private merchants with
military stores, in hopes of a profitable market
in a country, the fame of whose opulence
began to spread over Europe. Cortes eagerly
purchased a cargo which to him was invalu-
able, and the crew, following the general ex-
ample, joined him at Tlascala.p

FROM those various quarters, the army of
Cortes was augmented with an hundred and
eighty men, and twenty horses, a reinforce-
ment too inconsiderable to produce any con-

m

9 Cortes Relat. 253. F. B. Diaz. c. 133.
P Ibid. c. 136.

44 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK sequence which would entitle it to have been
^_ ^ mentioned in the history of other parts of the
1520. globe. But in that of America, where great
revolutions were brought about by causes
which seemed to b'ear no proportion to their
effects, such small events rise into importance,
because they were sufficient to decide with
respect to the fate of kingdoms. Nor is it the
least remarkable instance of the singular feli-
city conspicuous in many passages of Cortes's
story, that the two persons chiefly instrumental
in furnishing him with those seasonable sup-
plies, should be an avowed enemy who aimed
at his destruction, and an envious rival who
wished to supplant him.

Number of THE first effect of the junction with his new
. forces. f0yowers was to enable him to dismiss such

of Narvaez's soldiers as remained with reluc-
tance in his service. After their departure, he
still mustered five hundred and fifty infantry, of
which fourscore were armed with muskets or
cross-bows, forty horsemen, and a train of nine
field-pieces.11 At the head of these, accom-
panied by ten thousand Tlascalans and other
friendly Indians, Cortes began his march to-
wards Mexico, on the twenty-eighth of De-

-•» Cortes Relat. 255. E.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 45

eember six months after his disastrous retreat BOOK
from that city. r i_— J ___ j

1520.

NOR did he advance to attack an enemy un-

* tions of

prepared to receive him. Upon the death of the Mexi-

T» r i • r ^ il cans f°r

Montezuma, the Mexican chiefs, in whom the their de-
right of electing the emperor was vested, had fence-
instantly raised his brother Quetlavaca to the
throne. His avowed and inveterate enmity to
the Spaniards would have been sufficient to gain
their suffrages, although he had been less dis-
tinguished for courage and capacity. He had
an immediate opportunity of showing that he
was worthy of their choice, by conducting, in
person, those fierce attacks which compelled
the Spaniards to abandon his capital ; and as
soon as their retreat afforded him any respite
from action, he took measures for preventing
their return to Mexico, with prudence equal
to the spirit which he had displayed in driving
them out of it. As from the vicinity of Tlas-
cala, he could not be unacquainted with the
motions and intentions of Cortes, he observed
the storm that was gathering, and began early
to provide against it. He repaired what the
Spaniards had ruined in the city, and strength-
ened it with such new fortifications as the
skill of his subjects was capable of erecting.

r Relat. 256. A. B. Diaz, c. 137.

46 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK Besides filling his magazines with the usual
^ Tl . weapons of war, he gave directions to make
1520. long spears headed with the swords and dag-
gers taken from the Spaniards, in order to
annoy the cavalry. He summoned the people
in every province of the empire to take arms
against their oppressors, and as an encourage-
ment to exert themselves with vigour, he pro-
mised them exemption from all the taxes which
his predecessors had imposed. s But what he
laboured with the greatest earnestness was, to
deprive the Spaniards of the advantages which
they derived from the friendship of the Tlas-
calans, by endeavouring to persuade that
people to renounce all connection with men,
who were not only avowed enemies of the gods
whom they worshipped, but who would not
fail to subject them at last to the same yoke,
which they were now inconsiderately lending
their aid to impose upon others. These repre-
sentations, no less striking than well founded,
were urged so forcibly by his ambassadors, that
it required all the address of Cortes to prevent
their making a dangerous impression. £

BUT while Quetlavaca was arranging his
plan of defence, with a degree of foresight un-

3 Cortes Relat. p. 253. E.254. A. B. Diaz. c. 140.
* B. Diaz. c. 129. Herrera, dec. 2. lib. x. c. 14. 19.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 47

common in an American, his days were cut BOOK
short by the small-pox. This distemper, which
raged at that time in New Spain with fatal
malignity, was unknown in that quarter of the
globe, until it was introduced by the Euro-
peans, and may be reckoned among the greatest
calamities brought upon them by their inva-
ders. In his stead the Mexicans raised to the
throne Guatimozin, nephew and son-in-law of
Montezuma, a young man of such high repu-
tation for abilities and valour, that in this dan-
gerous crisis, his countrymen, with one voice,
called him to the supreme command/

As soon as Cortes entered the enemy's ter- 1521.
ritories, he discovered various preparations to Vances to"
obstruct his progress. But his troops forced
their way with little difficulty, and took posses-
sion of Tezeuco, the second city of the empire,
situated on the banks of the lake about twenty
miles from Mexico.w Here he determined to
establish his head-quarters, as the most proper
station for launching his brigantines, as well as
for making his approaches to the capital. In
order to render his residence there more se-
cure, he deposed the cazique or chief, who was
at the head of that community, under pretext

u B.Diaz, c.l 30.

w Villa Senor Theatre Americano, i. 156.

48 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

B o O K of some defect in his title, and substituted in
his place a person whom a faction of the nobles
pointed out as the right heir of that dignity.
Attached to him by this benefit, the new ca-
zique and his adherents served the Spaniards
with inviolable fidelity/

^s ^e PreParati°ns f°r constructing the bri-
and cau- ffantines advanced slowly under the unskilful

tious. .

hands of soldiers and Indians, whom Cortes was
obliged to employ in assisting three or four car-
penters who happened fortunately to be in his
service, and as he had not yet received the rein-
forcement which he expected from Hispaniola,
he was not in a condition to turn his arms di-
rectly against the capital. To have attacked,
at this period, a city so populous, so well pre-
pared for defence, and in a situation of such pe-
culiar strength, must have exposed his troops to
inevitable destruction. Three months elapsed
before the materials for the brigantines were
finished, and before he heard any thing with
respect to the success of the officer whom he
had sent to Hispaniola. This, however, was not
a season of inaction to Cortes. He attacked suc-
cessively several of the towns situated around
the lake ; and though all the Mexican power

x Cortes Relat. 256, &c. B. Dias. c. 137. Gomara Cron.
c. 121. Herrera, dec. 3. c. 1.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 49

exerted to obstruct his operations, he BOOK
either compelled them to submit to the Spa- t_ v^ ,
rush crown, or reduced them to ruins. The 1521.
inhabitants of other towns he endeavoured to
conciliate by more gentle means, and though
he could not hold any intercourse with them
but by the intervention of interpreters, yet,
under all the disadvantage of that tedious and
imperfect mode of communication he had ac-
quired such thorough knowledge of the state
of the country, as well as of the dispositions
of the people, that he conducted his negotia-
tions and intrigues with astonishing dexterity
and success. Most of the cities adjacent to
Mexico were originally the capitals of small
independent states ; and some of them having
been but lately annexed to the Mexican em-
pire, still retained the remembrance of their
ancient liberty, and bore with impatience the
rigorous yoke of their new masters. Cortes
having early observed symptoms of their dis-
affection, availed himself of this knowledge
to gain their confidence and friendship. By
offering with confidence, to deliver them from
the odious dominion of the Mexicans, and by
liberal promises of more indulgent treatment,
if they would unite with him against theie
oppressors, he prevailed on the people of se-
veral considerable districts, not only to ac-
VOL. in. E

50 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK knowledged the King of Castile as their sove*
^ ^f'_ _, reign, but to supply the Spanish camp with
1521. provisions, and to strengthen his army with
auxiliary troops. Guatimozin, on the first ap-
pearance of defection among his subjects,
exerted himself with vigour to prevent or to
punish their revolt ; but in spite of his efforts,
the spirit continued to spread. The Spaniards
gradually acquired new allies, and with deep
concern he beheld Cortes arming against hi*
empire those very hands which ought to have
been active in its defence ; and ready to ad-
vance against the capital at the head of a nu-
merous body of his own subjects. y

WHILE, by those various methods, Cortes
was gradually circumscribing the Mexican
power in such a manner that his prospect of
overturning it seemed neither to be uncertain
nor remote, all his schemes were well nigh de-
feated by a conspiracy no less unexpected than
dangerous. The soldiers of Narvaez had never
united perfectly with the original companions
of Cortes, nor did they enter into his measures
with the same cordial zeal. Upon every occa-
sion that required any extraordinary effort of
courage or of patience, their spirits were apt

y Cortes Relat. 256—260. B. Diaz, c. 137—140. Go-
mara Cron. c. 122, 123. Herrera, dec. 3. lib. i. c. 1, 2.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 51

to sink ; and now, on a near view of what BOOK
they had to encounter, in attempting to re- v-
duce a city so inaccessible as Mexico, and de- 1521.
fended by a numerous army, the resolution
even of those among them who had adhered
to Cortes when he was deserted by their asso-
ciates, began to fail. Their fears led them to
presumptuous and unsoldier-like discussions
concerning the propriety of their general's
measures, and the improbability of their suc-
cess. From these they proceeded to censure
and invectives, and at last began to deliberate
how they might provide for their own safety,
of which they deemed their commander to be
totally negligent. Antonio Villefagna, a pri-
vate soldier, but bold, intriguing, and strongly
attached to Velasquez, artfully fomented this
growing spirit of disaffection. His quarters
became the rendezvous of the malecontents,
where, after many consultations, they could
discover no method of checking Cortes in his
career, but by assassinating him and his most
considerable officers, and conferring the com-
mand upon some person who would relinquish
his wild plans, and adopt measures more con-
sistent with the general security. Despair in-
spired them with courage. The hour for per-
petrating the crime, the persons whom they
destined as victims, the officers to succeed
them in command, were all named j and the
E 2

52 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK conspirators signed an association, by which
^ __^__, they bound themselves with most solemn oaths
1521. to mutual fidelity. But on the evening before
the appointed day, one of Cortes's ancient
followers, who had been seduced into the con-
spiracy, touched with compunction at the im-
minent danger of a man whom he had long
been, accustomed to revere, or struck with
horror at his own treachery, went privately to
his general, and revealed to him all that he
knew. Cortes, though deeply alarmed, dis-
cerned at once what conduct was proper in a
situation so critical. He repaired instantly to
Villefagna's quarters,, accompanied by some
of his most trusty officers. The astonishment
and confusion of the man at this unexpected
visit anticipated the confession of his guilt.
Cortes, while his attendants seized the traitor,
snatched from his bosom a paper containing
the association, signed by the conspirators. Im-
patient to know how far the defection extend-
ed, he retired to read it, and found there names
which filled him with surprise and sorrow. But
aware how dangerous a strict scrutiny might
prove at such a juncture, he confined hjs judi-
cial inquiries to Villefagna alone. As the proofs
of his guilt were manifest, he was condemned
after a short trial, and next morning he was
seen hanging before the door of the house
in which he had lodged, Cortes called his

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 53

troops together, and having explained to B O O K
them the atrocious purpose of the conspirators,
as well as the justice of the punishment in-
flicted on Villefagna, he added, with an ap-
pearance of satisfaction, that he was entirely
ignorant with respect to all the circumstances
of this dark transaction, as the traitor, when
arrested, had suddenly torn and swallowed a
paper which probably contained an account of
it, and under the severest tortures possessed
such constancy as to conceal the names of his
accomplices. This artful declaration restored
tranquillity to many a breast that was throb-
bing, while he spoke, with consciousness of
guilt and dread of detection ; and by this
prudent moderation, Cortes had the advan-
tage of having discovered, and of being able
to observe such of his followers as were disaf-
fected ; while they, flattering themselves that
their past crime was unknown, endeavoured
to avert any suspicion of it, by redoubling
their activity and zeal in his service.2

CORTES did not allow them leisure to rumi- His singu
nate on what had happened ; and as the most
effectual means of preventing the return of a
mutinous spirit, he determined to call forth tines>

z Cortes Relat. 283. C. B. Diaz. c. 146. Herrera,
dec. 3. lib.i. c.l.

E 3

M HISTORY OF AMERICA.

B O o K his troops immediately to action. Fortunately,
^ v' , a proper occasion for this occurred without
1521. his seeming to court it. He received intelli-
gence that the materials for building the bri-
gantines were at length completely finished,
and waited only for a body of Spaniards to
conduct them to Tezeuco. The command of
this convoy, consisting of two hundred foot
soldiers, fifteen horsemen, and two field-pieces,
he gave to Sandoval, wrho, by the vigilance, ac-
tivity, arid courage which he manifested on every
occasion, was growing daily in his confidence,
and in the estimation of his fellow-soldiers.
The service was no less singular than important;
the beams, the planks, the masts, the cordage,
the sails, the iron-work, and all the infinite va-
riety of articles requisite for the construction
of thirteen brigantines, were to be carried
sixty miles over land, through a mountainous
country, by people who were unacquainted
with the ministry of domestic animals, or the
aid of machines to facilitate any work of la-
bour. The Tlascalans furnished eight thou-
sand Tamenes, an inferior order of men des-
tined for servile tasks, to carry the materials on
their shoulders, and appointed fifteen thousand
warriors to accompany and defend them. San-
doval made the disposition for their progress
with great propriety, placing the Tamenes in
the centre, one body of warriors in the front,

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 55

another in the rear, with considerable parties BOOK
to cover the flanks. To each of these he joined
some Spaniards, not only to assist them in 1521.
danger, but to accustom them to regularity
and subordination. A body so numerous, and
so much encumbered, advanced leisurely, but
in excellent order ; and in some places, where
it was confined by the woods or mountains,
the line of march extended above six miles.
Parties of Mexicans frequently appeared ho-
vering around them on the high grounds ; but
perceiving no prospect of success in attacking
an enemy continually on his guard, and pre-
pared to receive them, they did not venture
to molest him ; and Sandoval had the glory of
conducting safely to Tezeuco, a convoy on
which all the future operations of his country-
men depended.*

THIS was followed by another event of no Receives a
less moment. Four ships arrived at Vera Cruz
from Hispaniola, with two hundred soldiers,
eighty horses, two battering cannon, and a con-
siderable supply of ammunition and arms.b
Elevated with observing that all his prepara-
tory schemes, either for recruiting his own
army, or impairing the force of the enemy,
had now produced their full effect, Cortes,

a Cortes Relat. 260. C. E. B. Diaz. c. 140.

b Cortes Relat. 259. F. 262. D. Gomara Cron. c. 129.

E 4>

56 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK impatient to begin the siege in form, hastened

^__J , the launching of the brigantines. To facili-

1521- tate this he had employed a vast number of
Indians, for two months, in deepening the
small rivulet which runs by Tezeuco into the
lake, and in forming it into a canal near two
miles in length0; and though the Mexicans,
aware of his intentions, as well as of the dan-
ger which threatened them, endeavoured fre-
quently to interrupt the labourers, or to burn
the brigantines, the work was at last com-
The bri- pleted.d On the twenty-eight of April, all
launched, the Spanish troops, together with the auxiliary
Indians, were drawn up on the banks of the
canal ; and with extraordinary military pomp,
rendered more solemn by the celebration of
the most sacred rites of religion, the brigan-
tines were launched. As they fell down the
canal in order, Father Olmedo blessed them,
and gave each its name. Every eye followed
them with wonder and hope, until they en-
tered the lake, when they hoisted their
sails, and bore away before the wind. A ge-
neral shout of joy was raised; all admiring
that bold inventive genius, which, by means
so extraordinary that their success almost
exceeded belief, had acquired the command
of a fleet, without the aid of which Mexico

c See NOTE IV. d B, Diaz. c. 140.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 57

would have continued to set the Spanish power BOOK
and arms at defiance.0 ^ -—J-*->

1521.

CORTES determined to attack the city from

three different quarters ; from Tepeaca on the the siege.
north side of the lake, from Tacuba on the
west, and from Cuyocan towards the south.
Those towns were situated on the principal
causeways which led to the capital, and in-
tended for their defence. He appointed San-
doval to command in the first, Pedro de Al-
varado in the second, and Christoval de Olid
in the third ; allotting to each a numerous
body of Indian auxiliaries, together with an
equal division of Spaniards, who, by the junc-
tion of the troops from Hispaniola, amounted
now to eighty-six horsemen, and eight hun-
dred and eighteen foot soldiers ; of whom one *
hundred and eighteen were armed with mus-
kets or cross-bows. The train of artillery con-
sisted of three battering cannon, and fifteen
field-pieces. f He reserved for himself, as the
station of greatest importance and danger, the
conduct of the brigantines, each armed with
one of his small cannon, and manned with
twenty-five Spaniards.

e Cortes Relat. 266. Herrera, dec. 3. lib. i. c. 5. Go-
mara Cron. c. 129.
f Cortes Relat. 266. C.

58 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

As Alvarado and Olid proceeded towards
the posts assigned them, they broke down the
aqueducts which the ingenuity of the Mexi-

May 10. '

cans had erected for conveying water into the
capital, and by the distress to which this re-
duced the inhabitants, gave a beginning to the
calamities which they were destined to suffer. s
Alvarado and Olid found the towns of which
they were ordered to take possession deserted
by their inhabitants, who had fled for safety to
the capital, where Guatimozin had collected
the chief force of his empire, as there alone he
could hope to make a successful stand against
the formidable enemies who were approaching
to assault him.

Mexicans THE first effort of the Mexicans was to de-
brigan- & stroy the fleet of brigantines, the fatal effects
of whose operations they foresaw and dreaded.
Though the brigantines, after all the labour
and merit of Cortes in forming them, were of
inconsiderable bulk, rudely constructed, and
manned chiefly with landsmen, hardly pos-
sessed of skill enough to conduct them, they
must have been objects of terror to a people
unacquainted with any navigation but that of
their lake, and possessed of no vessel larger than

s Cortes Relat. 267. B. B. Diaz, c 150. Herrera,
dec. 3. lib.i. c. 13.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 59

a canoe. Necessity, however, urged Guati- BOOK
mozin to hazard the attack; and hoping to . W t
supply by numbers what he wanted in force, 1521.
he assembled such a multitude of canoes as co-
vered the face of the lake. They rowed onboldly
to the charge, while the brigantines, retarded
by a dead calm, could scarcely advance to
meet them. But as the enemy drew near, a Repaised.
breeze suddenly sprung up ; in a moment the
sails were spread, the brigantines, with the ut-
most ease, broke through their feeble oppo-
nents, overset many canoes, and dissipated the
whole armament with such slaughter, as con-
vinced the Mexicans, that the progress of the
Europeans in knowledge and arts rendered
their superiority greater on this new element,
than they had hitherto found it by land.h

FROM that time Cortes remained master of Singular
the lake, and the brigantines not only pre- conduct-
served a communication between the Spaniards j?| *he
in their different stations, though at consider-
able distance from each other, but were em-
ployed to cover the causeways on each side,
and keep off the canoes, when they attempted
to annoy the troops as they advanced towards
the city. Cortes formed the brigantines in
three divisions, appointing one to cover each

h Cortes Relat. 267. C. B.Diaz, c. 150. GomaraCron.
c. 131. Herrera, dec. 3. lib. i. c. 17.

60 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK of the stations from which an attack was to
t V' be carried on against the city, with orders to
1521. second the operations of the officer who com-
manded there. From all the three stations he
pushed on the attack against the city with
equal vigour ; but *in a manner so very differ-
ent from the conduct of sieges in regular war,
that he himself seems afraid it would appear
no less improper than singular, to persons un-
acquainted with his situation. i Each morning
his troops assaulted the barricades which the
enemy had erected on the causeways, forced
their way over the trenches which they had
dug, and through the canals where the bridges
were broken down, and endeavoured to pe-
netrate into the heart of the city, in hopes
of obtaining some decisive advantage, which
might force the enemy to surrender, and ter-
minate the war at once ; but when the ob-
stinate valour of the Mexicans rendered the
efforts of the day ineffectual, the Spaniards
retired in the evening to their former quar-
ters. Thus their toil and danger were, in
some measure, continually renewed; the
Mexicans repairing in the night what the
Spaniards had destroyed through the day, and
recovering the posts from which they had
driven them. But necessity prescribed this

1 Cortes Relat. 270. F.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 61

slow and untoward mode of operation. The BOOK

number of his troops was so small, that Cortes J*

durst not, with a handful of men, attempt to 1521.
make a lodgment in a city where he might be
surrounded and annoyed by such a multitude of
enemies. The remembrance of what he had
already suffered by the ill-judged confidence
with which he had ventured into such a dan-
gerous situation, was still fresh in his mind.
The Spaniards, exhausted with fatigue, were
unajble to guard the various posts which they
daily gained ; and though their camp was filled
with Indian auxiliaries, they durst not devolve
this charge upon them, because they were so
little accustomed to discipline, that no confi-
dence could be placed in their vigilance. Be-
sides this, Cortes was extremely solicitous to
preserve the city as much as possible from be-
ing destroyed, both because he destined it to
be the capital of his conquests, and wished that
it might remain as a monument of his glory.
From all these considerations, he adhered ob-
stinately, for a month after the siege was
opened, to the system which he had adopted.
The Mexicans, in their own defence, displayed
valour which was hardly inferior to that with
which the Spaniards attacked them. On land,
on water, by night and by day, one furious
conflict succeeded to another. Several Spa-
niards were killed, more wounded, and all were

62 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK ready to sink under the toils of unintermitting
service, which were rendered more intolerable
15521. by the injuries of the season, the periodical rains
being now set in with their usual violence.1"

Endea-
vours to
take the
city by
storm,

July

ASTONISHED and disconcerted with the length
and difficulties of the siege, Cortes determined
to make one great effort to get possession of
the city, before he relinquished the plan which
he had hitherto followed, and had recourse to
any other mode of attack. With this view, he
sent instructions to Alvarado and Sandoval to
advance with their divisions to a general as-
sault, and took the command in person of that
posted on the causeway of Cuyocan. Ani-
mated by his presence, and the expectation of
some decisive event, the Spaniards pushed for-
ward with irresistible impetuosity. They broke
through one barricade after another, forced
their way over the ditches and canals, and
having entered the city, gained ground inces-
santly, in spite of the multitude and ferocity
of their opponents. Cortes, though delighted
with the rapidity of his progress, did not
forget that he might still find it necessary to
retreat j and in order to secure it, appointed
Julien de Alderete, a captain of chief note in
the troops which he had received from His-

k B. Diaz. c. 151.
16

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 63

paniola, to fill up the canals and gaps in the BOOK

causeway as the main body advanced. That ^.^ ',

officer, deeming it inglorious to be thus em- 1521-
ployed, while his companions were in the
heat of action and the career of victory,
neglected the important charge committed
to him, and hurried on, inconsiderately, to
mingle with the combatants. The Mexicans,
whose military attention and skill were daily
improving, no sooner observed this, than they
carried an account of it to their monarch.

GUATIMOZIN instantly discerned the conse- Repulsed
quence of the error which the Spaniards had
committed, and, with admirable presence of
mind, prepared to take advantage of it. He
commanded the troops posted in the front to
slacken their efforts, in order to allure the
Spaniards to push forward, while he dis-
patched a large body of chosen warriors
through different streets, some by land, and
others by water, towards the great breach in
the causeway, which had been left open. On
a signal which he gave, the priests in the prin-
cipal temple struck the great drum conse-
crated to the god of war. No sooner did the
Mexicans hear its doleful solemn sound, cal-
culated to inspire them with contempt of
death, and enthusiastic ardour, than they

(J4, HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK rushed upon the enemy with frantic rage. The
Spaniards, unable to resist men urged on no
1521. less by religious fury than hope of success, be-
gan to retire, at first leisurely, and with a good
countenance ; but as the enemy pressed on,
and their own impatience to escape increased,
the terror and confusion became so general,
that when they arrived at the gap in the cause-
way, Spaniards and Tlascalans, horsemen and
infantry, plunged in promiscuously, while the
Mexicans rushed upon them fiercely from every
side, their light canoes carrying them through
shoals which the brigantines could not ap-
proach. In vain did Cortes attempt to s,top
and rally his flying troops; fear rendered them
regardless of his entreaties or commands.
Finding all his endeavours to renew the com-
"bat fruitless, his next care was to save some of
those who had thrown themselves into the
water ; but while thus employed, with more
attention to their situation than to his own,
six Mexican captains suddenly laid hold of
him, and were hurrying him off in triumph ;
and though two of his officers rescued him at
the expense of their own lives, he received se-
veral dangerous wounds before he could break
with con- loose. Above sixty Spaniards perished in the

siderable

loss. rout ; and what rendered the disaster more
afflicting, forty of these fell alive into the

8

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 65

Itands of an enemy never known to show BOOK
mercy to a captive.1

1521.

THE approach of night, though it delivered Those who
the dejected Spaniards from the attacks of the sacrificed
enemy, ushered in, what was hardly less
grievous, the noise of their barbarous triumph,
and of the horrid festival with which they ce-
lebrated their victory. Every quarter of the
city was illuminated; the great temple shone
with such peculiar splendour, that the Spa-
niards could plainly see the people in motion,
and the priests busy in hastening the prepara-
tions for the death of the prisoners. Through
the gloom, they fancied that they discerned
their companions by the whiteness of their
skins, as they were stript naked, and compelled
to dance before the image of the god to whom
they were to be offered. They heard the shrieks
of those who were sacrificed, and thought that
they could distinguish each unhappy victim,
by the well-known sound of his voice. Ima-
gination added to what they really saw or
heard, and augmented its horror. The most
unfeeling melted into tears of compassion, and
the stoutest heart trembled at the dreadful
spectacle which they beheld. m

1 Cortes Relat. p. 273. B. Diaz. c. 152. Gomara Cron,
c. 138. Herrera, dec. 3. lib. i. c. 23.
« See NOTE V.
VOL. 777. F

66 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

CORTES, who, besides all that he. felt in com-
mon with his soldiers, was oppressed with the
1521. additional load of anxious reflections natural

New 11-

schemes to a general on such an unexpected calamity,
of th6e°r could not, like them, relieve his mind by
Mexicans, giving vent to its anguish. He was obliged
to assume an air of tranquillity, in order to re-
vive the spirit and hopes of his followers. The
juncture, indeed, required an extraordinary
exertion of fortitude. The Mexicans, elated
with their victory, sallied out next morning to
attack him in his quarters. But they did not
rely on the efforts of their own arms alone.
They sent the heads of the Spaniards whom
they had sacrificed, to the leading men in the
adjacent provinces, and assured them that the
god of war, appeased by the blood of their in-
vaders, which had been shed so plentifully on
his altars, had declared with an audible voice,
that in eight days time those hated enemies
should be finally destroyed, and peace and
prosperity re-established in the empire.

Cortes de- A PREDICTION uttered with such confidence,

serted by . .

many of and in terms so void of ambiguity, gamed uni-
alTies? 3 versal credit among a people prone to super-
stition. The zeal of the provinces, which had
already declared against the Spaniards, aug-
mented ; and several which had hitherto re-
mained inactive, took arms, with enthusiastic

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 6?

ardour, to execute the decree of the gods. BOOK
The Indian auxiliaries who had joined Cortes, ._ J__ J
accustomed to venerate the same deities with 1521>
the Mexicans, and to receive the responses of
their priests with the same implicit faith,
abandoned the Spaniards as a race of men
devoted to certain destruction. Even the fide-
lity of the Tlascalans was shaken, and the
Spanish troops were left almost alone in their
stations. Cortes, finding that he attempted
in vain to dispel the superstitious fears of his
confederates by argument, took advantage,
from the imprudence of those who had framed
the prophecy, in fixing its accomplishment so.
near at hand, to give a striking demonstration
of its falsity. He suspended all military ope-
rations during the period marked out by the
oracle. Under cover of the brigantines,
which kept the enemy at a distance, his troops
lay in safety, and the fatal term expired with-
out any disaster."

MANY of his allies, ashamed of their own He regains
credulity, returned to their station. Other friendship,
tribes, judging that the gods who had now
deceived the Mexicans, had decreed finally to
withdraw their protection from them, joined
his standard; and such was the levity of a
simple people, moved by every slight im-

n B. Diaz. c. 153. Gomara Cron. c. 138.
F 2

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

pression, that in a short time after such a ge-
neral defection of his confederates, Cortes
21 ' saw himself, if we may believe his own ac-
count, at the head of a hundred and fifty
aUnev?sys! thousand Indians. Even with such a nu-
taek °f at" merous armv> ne found it necessary to adopt a
new and more wary system of operation. In-
stead of renewing his attempts to become
master of the city at once, by such bold but
dangerous efforts of valour as he had already
tried, he made his advances gradually, and
with every possible precaution against exposing
his men to any calamity similar to that which
they still bewailed. As the Spaniards pushed
forward, the Indians regularly repaired the
causeways behind them. As soon as they got
possession of any part of the town, the houses
were instantly levelled with the ground. Day
by day, the Mexicans, forced to retire as their
enemies gained ground/ were hemmed in
within more narrow limits. Guatimozin,
though unable to stop the career of the enemy,
continued to defend his capital with obstinate
resolution, and disputed every inch of ground.
The Spaniards not only varied their mode of
attack, but, by orders of Cortes, changed the
weapons with which they fought. They were
again armed with the long Chinantlan spears,
which they had employed with such suc-
cess against Narvaez ; and, by the firm array

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 69

in which this enabled them to range them- BOOK
selves, they repelled, with little danger, the v_ ._^__ ,
loose assault of the Mexicans : incredible num- 1521-
bers of them fell in the conflicts which they
renewed every day.0 While war wasted with-
out, famine began to consume them within,
the city. The Spanish brigantines, having
the entire command of the lake, rendered it
almost impossible to convey to the besieged
any supply of provisions by water. The im-
mense number of his Indian auxiliaries enabled
Cortes to shut up the avenues to the city by
land. The stores which Guatimozin had laid
up were exhausted by the multitudes which
had crowded into the capital to defend their
sovereign and the temples of their gods. Not
only the people, but persons of the highest
rank, felt the utmost distresses of famine.
What they suffered, brought on infectious and
mortal distempers, the last calamity that visits
besieged cities, and which filled up the mea-
sure of their woes. p

BUT, under the pressure of so many and such Courage

.-, -. . . n f^ and con-

variOUS evils, the spirit of Guatimozin re- stancy of

mained firm and unsubdued. He rejected, Guatm
with scorn, every overture of peace from Cor-

zm.

0 Cortes Relat. p. 275. C. 276. F. B. Diaz. c. 153.
P Cortes Relat. 276. E. 277. F. B. Diaw, 155. Gomara
Cron. c. 1«.

F 3

70 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK tes ; and, disdaining the idea of submitting to

v* the oppressors of his country, determined not

i52i. to survive its ruin. The Spaniards continued

July 27. their progress. At length all the three divi-
sions penetrated into the great square in the
centre of the city, and made a secure lodgment
there. Three-fourths of the city were now re-
duced, and laid in ruins. The remaining quar-
ter was so closely pressed, that it could not
long withstand assailants, who attacked it from
their new station with superior advantage, and
more assured expectation of success. The
Mexican nobles, solicitous to save the life
of a monarch whom they revered, prevailed
on Guatimozin to retire from a place where re-
sistance was now vain, that he might rouse the
more distant provinces of the empire to arms,
and maintain there a more successful struggle
with the^ public enemy. In order to facilitate
the execution of this measure, they endeavour-
ed to amuse Cortes with overtures of submis-
sion, that, while his attention was employed in
adjusting the articles of pacification, Guati*
mozin might escape unperceived. But they
made this attempt upon a leader of greater sa-
gacity and discernment than to be deceived by
their arts. Cortes, suspecting their intention,
and aware of what moment it was to defeat it,
appointed Sandoval, the officer on whose vigi-
lance he could most perfectly rely, to take the

HISTORY OF AMERICA, yj

command of the brigantines, with strict injunc- BOOK
tions to watch every motion of the enemy. San-
doval, attentive to the charge, observing some
large canoes crowded with* people rowing
across the lake with extraordinary rapidity,
instantly gave the signal to chase. Garcia
Holguin, who commanded the swiftest-sailing
brigantine, soon overtook thfcm, and was pre-
paring to fire on the foremost canoe, which
-seemed to. carry some person whom all the
rest followed and obeyed. At once the rowers He is taken
dropped their oars, and all on board, throwing pn:
down their arms, conjured him with cries and
tears to forbear, as the emperor was there.
Holguin eagerly seized his prize; and Guati-
mozin, with a dignified composure, gave him-
self up into his hands, requesting only that ho
insult might be offered to the empress or his
children. When conducted to Cortes, he ap-
peared neither with the sullen fierceness of a
barbarian, nor with the dejection of a suppli-
cant. " I have done," said he, addressing
himself to the Spanish general, " what became
a monarch. I have defended my people to the
last extremity. Nothing now remains but to die.
Take this dagger," laying his hand on one which
Cortes wore, " plant it in my breast, and put an
end to a life which can no longer be of use." 9

q Cortes Relat. 279. B. Diaz. c. 156. Gomara Cron.
vC.14^2* "Herrera, dec. 3. lib. ii. c.7.
F 4

72 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

As soon as the fate of their sovereign was
known, the resistance of the Mexicans ceased ;
i52i. and Cortes took possession of that small part of
The 'city, the capital which yet remained undestroyed.
Thus terminated the siege of Mexico, the
.most memorable event in the conquest of Ame-
rica. It continued seventy-five days, hardly
one of which passed without some extraordi-
nary effort of one party in the attack, or of
the other in the defence of a city, on the fate
of which both knew that the fortune of the
empire depended. As the struggle here was
more obstinate, it was likewise more equal, than
any between the inhabitants of the Old and
New worlds. The great abilities of Guatimo-
zin, the number of his troops, the peculiar
situation of his capital, so far counterbalanced
the superiority of the Spaniards in arms and
discipline, that they must have relinquished the
enterprise, if they had trusted for success to
themselves alone. But Mexico was overturned
by the jealousy of neighbours who dreaded
its power, and by the revolt of subjects impa-
tient to shake off its yoke. By their effectual
aid, Cortes was enabled to accomplish what,
without such support, he would hardly have
ventured to attempt. How much soever this
account of the reduction of Mexico may de-
tract, on the one hand, from the marvellous
relations of some Spanish writers, by ascribing

HISTORY OF AMERICA, 73

that to simple and obvious causes which they BOOK
attribute to the romantic valour of their coun-
trymen, it adds, on the other, to the merit and
abilities of Cortes, who, under every disadvan-
tage, acquired such an ascendant over unknown
nations, as to render them instruments towards
carrying his schemes into execution. r

THE exultation of the Spaniards, on accom
plishing this arduous enterprise, was at first booty, and
excessive. But this was quickly damped by the pointment
cruel disappointment of those sanguine hopes,
which had animated them amidst so many '
hardships and dangers. Instead of the inex-
haustible wealth which they expected from be-
coming masters of Montezuma's treasures, and
the ornaments of so many temples, their ra-
paciousness could only collect an inconsider-
able booty amidst ruins and desolation.5 Gua-
timozin, aware of his impending fate, had or-
dered what remained of the riches amassed by
his ancestors, to be thrown into the lake. The
Indian auxiliaries, while the Spaniards were
engaged in conflict with the enemy, had carried
off the most valuable part of the spoil. The

' See NOTE VI.

5 The gold and silver, according to Cortes, amounted
only to 120,000 pesos. Relat. 280. A. a sum much in-
ferior to that which tjie Spaniards had formerly divided in
^Mexico.

74 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK sum to be divided among the conquerors was
._._TL_; so small, that many of them disdained to ac-
1531> cept of the pittance which fell to their share,
and all murmured and exclaimed; some against
Cortes and his confidants, whom they sus-
pected of having secretly appropriated to their
own use a large portion of the riches which
should have been brought into the common
stock ; others, against Guatimozin, whom they
accused of obstinacy, in refusing to discover
the place where he had hidden his treasure.

Guati- ARGUMENTS, entreaties, and promises were

tured. " employed in order to soothe them, but with so
little effect, that Cortes, from solicitude to
check this growing spirit of discontent, gave
way to a deed which stains the glory of all his
great actions. Without regarding the former
dignity of Guatimozin, or feeling any reve-
rence for those virtues which he had displayed,
he subjected the unhappy monarch, together
with his chief favourite, to torture, in order to
force from them a discovery of the royal trea-
. sures, which it was supposed they had con-
cealed. Guatimozin bore whatever the refined
cruelty of his tormentors could inflict, with
the invincible fortitude of an American war-
rior. His fellow-sufferer, overcome by the
violence of the anguish, turned a dejected eye

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 75

towards his master, which seemed to implore BOOK
his permission to reveal all that he knew. But ^_V1 .
the high-spirited prince, darting on him a look 152]-
of authority mingled with scorn, checked his
weakness by asking, " Am I now reposing on
a bed of flowers ?" Overawed by the reproach,
the favourite persevered in his dutiful silence,
and expired. Cortes, ashamed of a scene so
horrid, rescued the royal victim from the hands
of his torturers, and prolonged a life reserved
for new indignities and sufferings.1

THE fate of the capital, as both parties had All the

/- 1-111 ^i - r™ provinces

foreseen, decided that of the empire. The of the em-

provinces submitted one after another to the
conquerors. Small detachments of Spaniards
marching through them without interruption,
penetrated in different quarters to the great
Southern Ocean, which, according to the ideas
of Columbus, they imagined would open a short
as well as easy passage to the East-Indies, and
secure to the crown of Castile all the envied
wealth of those fertile regions" ; and the active Cortes
mind of Cortes began already to form schemes schemes of
for attempting this important discovery. w ne* disco~

1 B. Diaz. e. 157. Gonaara Cron. c. 146. Herrera,
dec. 3. lib. ii. c. 8. Torquem. Mon. Ind. i. 574.

u Cortes Relat. 280. D. &c. B. Diaz. c. 157.
, * Herrera, dec. 3. lib. ii. c. 17. Gomara Cron. c. 149.

76 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

HE did not know, that during the progress of
his victorious arms in Mexico, the very scheme
1521. of which he began to form some idea, had been

which arc

completed undertaken and accomplished. As this is one
lan. as° of the most splendid events in the history of the
Spanish discoveries, and has been productive of
effects peculiarly interesting to those extensive
provinces which Cortes had now subjected to
the Crown of Castile, the account of its rise
and progress merits a particular detail.

FERDINAND MAGALHAENS, or Magellan, a
Portuguese gentleman of honourable birth,
having served several years in the East-Indies,
with distinguished valour, under the famous
Albuquerque, demanded the recompense which
he thought due to his services, with the bold-
ness natural to a high-spirited soldier. But as
his general would not grant his suit, and he
expected greater justice from his sovereign,
whom he knew to be a good judge and a gene-
rous rewarder of merit, he quitted India ab-
ruptly, and returned to Lisbon. In order to
induce Emanuel to listen more favourably to his
claim, he not only stated his past services, but
offered to add to them by conducting his coun-
trymen to the Molucca or Spice Islands, by
holding a westerly course ; which he contended
would be both shorter and less hazardous than

HISTORY OF AMERICA, 77

that which the Portuguese now followed by B o o K
the Cape of Good Hope, through the im- L —'—_,
mense extent of the Eastern Ocean. This 1521.
was the original and favourite project of Co-
lumbus, and Magellan founded his hopes of
success on the ideas of that great navigator,
confirmed by many observations, the result of
his own naval experience, as well as that of
his countrymen, in their intercourse with the
East. But though the Portuguese monarchs
had the merit of having first awakened and
encouraged the spirit of discovery in that age,
it was their destiny, in the course of a few
years, to reject two grand schemes for this
purpose, the execution of which would have
been attended with a great accession of glory
to themselves, and of power to their kingdom.
In consequence of some ill-founded prejudice
against Magellan, or of some dark intrigue
which contemporary historians have not ex-
plained, Emanuel would neither bestow the
recompense which he claimed, nor approve
of the scheme which he proposed ; and dis-
missed him with a disdainful coldness intoler^
able to a man conscious of what he deserved,
and animated with the sanguine hopes of sue*
cess peculiar to those who are capable of
forming or of conducting new and great
undertakings. In a transport of resentment,
Magellan formally renounced his allegiance 1517.

78 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BO 0 K to an ungrateful master, and fled to the court
V- j of Castile, where he expected that his talents
1521. would be more justly estimated. He en-
deavoured to recommend himself by offering
to execute, under the patronage of Spain,
that scheme, which he had laid before the
court of Portugal, the accomplishment of
which, he knew, would wound the monarch
against whom he was exasperated in the most
tender part. In order to establish the justness
of his theory, he produced the same argu-
ments which he had employed at Lisbon;
acknowledging, at the same time, that the
undertaking was both arduous and expensive,
as it could not be attempted but with a
squadron of considerable force, and victualled
for at least two years. Fortunately, he ap-
plied to a minister who was not apt to be
deterred, either by the boldness of a design,
or the expense of carrying it into execution.
Cardinal Ximenes, wiio at that time directed
the affairs of Spain, discerning at once what
an increase of wealth and glory would accrue
to his country by the success of Magellan's
proposal, listened to it with a most favourable
ear. Charles V., on his arrival in his Spanish
dominions, entered into the measure with no
less ardour, and orders were issued for equip-
ping a proper squadron at the public charge,
of which the command was given to Magel-

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 79

Ian, whom the King honoured with the B o o K
habit of St. Jago and the title of Captain- v V__.
General. x 1521«

ON the tenth of August one thousand five His voy-
hundred and nineteen, Magellan sailed from &l
Seville with five ships, which, according to
the ideas of the age, were deemed to be of
considerable force, though the burden of the
largest did not exceed one hundred and twenty
tons. The crews of the whole amounted to
two hundred and thirty-four men, among
whom were some of the most skilful pilots in
Spain, and several Portuguese sailors, in whose
experience, as more extensive, Magellan
placed still greater confidence. After touch-
ing at the Canaries, he stood directly south
towards the equinoctial line along the coast
of America, but was so long retarded by te-
dious calms, and spent so much time in search-
ing every bay and inlet for that communica-
tion with the Southern Ocean which he wished
to discover, that he did not reach the river
De la Plata till the twelfth of January. That 1520.
spacious opening through which its vast body
of water pours into the Atlantic allured him
to enter; but after sailing up it for some

* Herrera, dec. 2. lib. ii. c. 19. lib. iv. c. 9. Gomara
Hist. c. 91. Dalrymple's Collect, of Voyages to the South
Pacific Oceae, vol. i. p. 1, £c.

80 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK days, ne concluded, from the shallowrress of"
v. the stream and the freshness of the water,
' that the wished-for strait was not situated
there, and continued his course towards the
south. On the thirty-first of March he ar-
rived in the port of St. Julian, about forty-
eight degrees south of the line, where he
resolved to winter. In this uncomfortable
station he lost one of his squadron, and the
Spaniards suffered so much from the excessive
rigour of the climate, that the crews of three
of his ships, headed by their officers, rose in
open mutiny, and insisted on relinquishing the
visionary project of a desperate adventurer,
and returning directly to Spain. This dan-
gerous insurrection Magellan suppressed, by an
effort of courage no less prompt than intrepid,
and inflicted exemplary punishment on the
ring-leaders. With the remainder of his fol-
lowers, overawed but not reconciled to his
scheme, he continued his voyage towards the
south, and at length discovered, near the fifty-
third degree of latitude, the mouth of a strait,
into which he entered, notwithstanding the
murmurs and remonstrances of the people
under his command. After sailing twenty days
in that winding dangerous channel, to which he
gave his own name, and where one of his ships
deserted him, the great Southern Ocean opened
to his view, and with tears of joy he returned

7

HISTORY OF AMERICA, 81

thanks to Heaven for having thus far crowned BOOK
his endeavours with success. y v^ _V.L , v

1521.

BUT he was still at a greater distance than he
imagined from the object of his wishes. He
sailed during three months and twenty days in
an uniform direction towards the north-west,
without discovering land. In this voyage, the
longest that had ever been made in the un-
bounded ocean, he suffered incredible distress.
His stock of provisions was almost exhausted,
the water became putrid, the men were re-
duced to the shortest allowance with which it
was possible to sustain life, and the scurvy,
the most dreadful of all the maladies with
which sea-faring people are afflicted, began to
spread among the crew. One circumstance
alone afforded them some consolation ; they
enjoyed an uninterrupted course of fair wea-
ther, with such favourable winds, that Magellan
bestowed on that ocean the name of Pacific,
which it still retains. When reduced to such
extremity that they must have sunk under their
sufferings, they fell in with a cluster of small March <?.
but fertile islands, which afforded them refresh-
ments in such abundance, that their health

y Herrera, dec. 2. lib. iv. c. 10. lib. ix. c. 10, &c.
Gomara, HisU c. 92. Pigafetta Viaggio ap. Ramus. ii.
p. 352, &c.

VOL. ill. G

82 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK was soon re-established. From these isles,
V' ^ which he called De los Ladrones, he proceeded
1521. on his voyage, and soon made a more import-
ant discovery of the islands now known by the
name of the Philippines. In one of these he
got into an unfortunate quarrel with the na-
tives, who attacked him with a numerous body
of troops well armed ; and while he fought at
the head of his men with his usual valour, he

April 26. fell by the hands of thoste barbarians, together
with several of his principal officers.

THE expedition was prosecuted under other
commanders. After visiting many of the
smaller isles scattered in the eastern part of the
NOV. 8. Indian ocean, they touched at the great island
of Borneo, and at length landed in Tidore,
one of the Moluccas, to the astonishment of
the Portuguese, who could not comprehend
how the Spaniards, by holding a westerly
course, had arrived at that sequestered seat
of their most valuable commerce, which they
themselves had discovered by sailing in an
opposite direction. There, and in the adjacent
isles, the Spaniards found a people acquainted
with the benefits of extensive trade, and willing
to open an intercourse with a new nation.
They took in a cargo of the precious spices,
which are the distinguished production of

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 83

these islands ; and with that, as well as with BOOK
specimens of the rich commodities yielded by ._.^!L_.
the other countries which they had visited, the 1522-
Victory, which, of the two ships that remained
of the squadron, was most fit for a long voyage,
set sail for Europe, under the command of Jan.
Juan Sebastian del Cano. He followed the
course of the Portuguese, by the Cape of Gaod
Hope, and after many disasters and sufferings
he arrived at St. Lucar on the seventh of
September one thousand five hundred and
twenty -two, having sailed roundthe globe in the
space of three years and twenty-eight days. z

THOUGH an untimely fate deprived Magellan
of the satisfaction of accomplishing this great
undertaking, his contemporaries, just to his
memory and talents, ascribed to him not only
the honour of having formed the plan, but of
having surmounted almost every obstacle to
the completion of it ; and in the present age
his name is still ranked ataong the highest in
the roll of eminent and successful navigators. •
The naval glory of Spain now eclipsed that
of every other nation ; and by a singular felicity
she had the merit, in the course of a few years,

<>

2 Herrera, dec. 3. Kb. i. c. 3. 9. lib. iv. c. 1. Gomara
CroD. c. 93, &jc. Pjgafetta ap. Ramus. ii. p. 361 , &c,

G 2

84 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK of discovering a new continent almost as large

^_ ^ as that part of the earth which was formerly

1522. known, and of ascertaining by experience

the form and extent of the whole of the

terraqueous globe.

THE Spaniards were not satisfied with the
glory of having first encompassed the earth ;
they expected to derive great commercial ad-
vantages from this newand boldest effort of their
maritime skill. The men of science among them
contended, that the spice islands, and several
of the richest countries in the East, were so
situated as to belong of right to the crown of
Castile, in consequence of the partitions made
by Alexander VI. The merchants, without
attending to this discussion, engaged eagerly
in that lucrative and alluring commerce, which
was now open to them. The Portuguese,
alarmed at the intrusion of such formidable
rivals, remonstrated and negotiated in Europe,
while in Asia they obstructed the trade of the
Spaniards by force of arms. Charles V., not
sufficiently instructed with respect to the im-
portance of this valuable branch of commerce,
or distracted by the multiplicity of his schemes
and operations, did not afford his subjects pro-
per protection. At last, the low state of his
finances, exhausted by the efforts of his arms

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 85

in every part of Europe, together with the BOOK
dread of adding a new war with Portugal to
those in which he was already engaged, induced
him to make over his claim of the Moluccas
to the Portuguese for three hundred and fifty
thousand ducats. He reserved, however, to the
crown of Castile the right of reviving its pre-
tensions on repayment of that sum ; but other
objects engrossed his attention and that of his
successors; and Spain was finally excluded
from a branch of commerce in which it was
engaging with sanguine expectations of profit.*

THOUGH the trade with the Moluccas was
relinquished, the voyage of Magellan was fol-
lowed by commercial effects of great moment
to Spain. Philip II., in the year one thousand
five hundred and sixty-four, reduced those
islands which he discovered in the Eastern
ocean to subjection, and established settle-
ments there ; between which and the kingdom
of New Spain, a, regular intercourse, the nature
of which shall be explained in its proper place,
is still carried on. I return now to the trans-
actions in New Spain.

AT the time that Cortes was acquiring; such An order

to super-
extensive territories for his native country, and sede

a Herrera, dec. 3» lib. vi. c. 5, &c. dec. 4. lib. v. e. 7, &c.
G 3

86 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK preparing the way for future conquests, it was
L _T1 _, his singular fate not only to be destitute of any
1522. commission or authority from the sovereign
whom he was serving with such successful zeal,
but to be regarded as an un dutiful and seditious
subject. By the influence of Fonseca, Bishop of
Burgos, his conduct in assuming the govern-
ment of New Spain was declared to be an irre-
gular usurpation, in contempt of the royal au-
thority ; and Christoval de Tapia received a
commission, empowering him to supersede
Cortes, to seize his person, to confiscate his
effects, to make a strict scrutiny into his pro-
ceedings, and to transmit the result of all the
inquiries carried on in New Spain to the Coun-
cil of the Indies, of which the Bishop of Burgos
was president. A few weeks after the reduction
of Mexico, Tapia landed at Vera Cruz with the
royal mandate to strip its conqueror of his
power, and treat him as a criminal. But Fonseca
had chosen a very improper instrument to wreak
his vengeance on Cortes. Tapia hac1 neither
the reputation nor the talents that suited the
high command to which he was appointed,
which he Cortes, while he publicly expressed the most
respectful veneration for the Emperor's autho-
rity, secretly took measures to defeat the effect
of his commission ; and having involved Tapia
and his followers in a multiplicity of negotia-
tions and conferences, in which he sometimes

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 87

had recourse to threats, but more frequently BOOK
employed bribes and promises, he at length pre- Vt
vailed upon that weak man to abandon a pro- 1522.
vince which he was unworthy of governing. b

BUT notwithstanding the fortunate dexterity Applies
with which he had eluded this danger, Cortes the court.
was so sensible of the precarious tenure by
which he held his power, that he dispatched
deputies to Spain, with a pompous account of
the success of his arms, with farther specimens
of the productions of the country, and with rich
presents to the Emperor, as the earnest of future
contributions from his new conquests j request-
ing, in recompense for all his services, the ap-
probation of his proceedings, and that he might
be intrusted with the government of those do-
minions, which his conduct, and the valour of
his followers, had added to the crown of Castile.
The juncture in which his deputies reached the
court was favourable. The internal commotions
in Spain, which had disquieted the beginning
of Charles's reign, were just appeased. c The
ministers had leisure to turn their attention
towards foreign affairs. The account of Coftes's
victories filled his countrymen with admira-

b Herrera, dec. 3. lib. iii. c. 16, 3. dec. ir. c. 1. Cort.
Relat. 281. E. B. Diaz. c. 158,
c Hist, of Charles V. vol. ii. b. iii.

G 4

88 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK tion. The extent and value of his conquest*
Vjvl_; became the object of vast and interesting
• 1522. hopes. Whatever*' stain he might have con-
tracted, by the irregularity of the steps which
he took in order to attain power, was so fully
effaced by the splendour and merit of the great
actions which this had enabled him to perform,
that every heart revolted at the thought of in-
flicting any censure on a man, whose services
entitled him to the highest marks of distinction.
The public voice declared warmly in favour of
his pretensions ; and Charles, arriving in Spain
about this time, adopted the sentiments of his
subjects with a youthful ardour. Notwith-
standing the claims of Velasquez, and the
and is ap- partial representations of the Bishop of Burgos,
captain- the Emperor appointed Cortes captain-general
anTgover- and governor of New Spain, judging that no
New person was so capable of maintaining the royal
Spam. authority, or of establishing good order both
among his Spanish and Indian subjects, as the
victorious leader whom the former had long
been accustomed to obey, and the latter had
been taught to fear and to respect. d

schemes EVEN before his jurisdiction received this
and ar- legal sanction, Cortes ventured to exercise all

range-
ments.

d Herrera, dec. 3. lib. iv. c. 3. Gomara Cron. c. 16 1>
165. B. Diaz. 167, 168.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 89

•^
the powers of a governor, and, by various ar- BOOK

rangements, endeavoured to render his con-

Cv * '• ^.u. i ••%./•«• •»»'

quest a secure and beneficial acquisition to his 1522-
country. He determined to establish the seat
of government in its ancient station, and to
raise Mexico again from its ruins; and having
conceived high ideas concerning the future
grandeur of the state of which he was lay-
ing the foundation, he began to rebuild its
capital on a plan which hath gradually formed
the most magnificent city in the New World.
At the same time, he employed skilful persons
to search for mines in different parts of the
country, and opened some which were found
to be richer than any which the Spaniards had
hitherto discovered in America. He detached
his principal officers into the remote provinces,
and encouraged them to settle there, not only
by bestowing upon them large tracts of land,
but by granting them the same dominion over
the Indians, and the same right to their ser-
vice, which the Spaniards had assumed in the
islands.

IT was not, however, without difficulty, that
the Mexican empire could be entirely reduced
into the form of a Spanish colony. Enraged
and rendered desperate by oppression, the the Spa.
natives often; forgot the superiority of their

90 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK enemies, and ran to arms in defence of their
v_Jl_ ,. liberties. In every contest, however, the
1522. European valour -and discipline prevailed.
But fatally for the honour of their country,
the Spaniards sullied the glory redounding
from these repeated victories by their mode of
treating the vanquished people. After taking
Guatimozin, and becoming masters of his
capital, they supposed that the King of Castile
entered on possession of all the rights of the
captive monarch, and affected to consider every
effort of the Mexicans to assert their own in-
dependence, as the rebellion of vassals against
their sovereign, or the mutiny of slaves against
their master. Under the sanction of those ill-
founded maxims, they violated every right that
should be held sacred between hostile nations.
After each insurrection, they reduced the com-
mon people, in the provinces which they sub-
dued, to the most humiliating of all conditions,
that of personal servitude. Their chiefs, sup-
posed to be more criminal, were punished with
greater severity, and put to death in the most
ignominious or the most excruciating mode,
that the insolence or the cruelty of their con-
querors could devise. In almost every district
of the Mexican empire, the progress of the
Spanish arms is marked with blood, and with
deeds so atrocious, as disgrace the enterprising

13

HISTORY OF AMERICA. gj

valour that conducted them to success. In B o o K
the country of Panuco, sixty caziques or v*
leaders, and four hundred nobles, were burnt 1522.
at one time. Nor was this shocking barbarity
perpetrated in any sudden sally of rage, or by
a commander of inferior note. It was the act
of Sandoval, an officer whose name is entitled
to the second rank in the annals of New Spaip,
and executed after a solemn consultation with
Cortes; and to complete the horror of the scene,
the children and relations of the wretched vic-
tims were assembled, and compelled to be spec-
tators of their dying agonies. e It seems hardly
possible to exceed in horror this dreadful ex-
ample of severity; but it was followed by
another, which affected the Mexicans still
more sensibly, as it gave them a most feeling
proof of their own degradation, and of the small
regard which their haughty masters retained
for the ancient dignity and splendour of their
state. On a slight suspicion, confirmed by
very imperfect evidence, that Guatimozin had
formed a scheme to shake off the yoke, and to
excite his former subjects to take arms, Cortes,
without the formality of a trial, ordered the
unhappy monarch, together with the caziques
of Tezeuco and Tacuba, the two persons of
greatest eminence in the empire, to be hanged;

e Cortes Relat. 291. C. Gomara Cron. c. 155.

92 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK and the Mexicans, with astonishment and hor-

^^ , ror, beheld this disgraceful punishment in-

1522. flicted upon persons, to whom they were ac-
customed to look up with reverence, hardly
inferior to that which they paid to the gods
themselves. f The example of Cortes and his
principal officers encouraged and justified per-
sons of sub or din ate rank to venture upon com-
mitting greater excesses. Nuno de Guzman,
in particular, stained an illustrious name by
deeds of peculiar enormity and rigour, in va-
rious expeditions which he conducted. g

First ob- ONE circumstance, however, saved the
chistry " Mexicans from farther consumption, perhaps

c™n°uge?e from as comPlete as tnat which had depopu-
°rs- lated the islands. The first conquerors did

not attempt to search for the precious metals
in the bowels of the earth. They were neither
sufficiently wealthy to carry on the expensive
works, which are requisite for opening those
deep recesses, where nature has concealed the
veins of gold and silver, nor sufficiently skilful
to perform the ingenious operations by which
those precious metals are separated from their
respective ores. They were satisfied with the

f Gomara Cron. c. 170. B. Diaz. c. 177. Herrera,
dec. 3. lib. viii. c. 9. See NOTE VII.
8 Herrera, dec. 41 & 5. passim.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 93

more simple method, practised by the Indians, BOOK
of washing the earth carried down rivers and ,_ Tl_,
torrents from the mountains, and collecting 1522-
the grains of native metal deposited there.
The rich mines of New Spain, which have
poured forth their treasures with such profu-
sion on every quarter of the globe, were not
discovered for several years after the conquest.1*
By that time, a more orderly government and 1552, <fcc.
police were introduced into the colony ; ex-
perience, derived from former errors, had
suggested many useful and humane regulations -
for the protection and preservation of the
Indians ; and though it then became necessary,
to increase the number of those employed in
the mines, and they were engaged in a species
of labour more pernicious to the human con-
stitution, they suffered less hardship or dimi-
nution than from the ill-judged, but less ex-
tensive, schemes of the first conquerors.

WHILE it was the lot of the Indians to suf- Their po-
fer, their new masters seemed not to have *
derived any considerable wealth from their
ill-conducted researches. According to the
usual fate of first settlers in new colonies, it
was their lot to encounter danger, and to
struggle with difficulties ; the fruits of their

h Herrera, dec. 8. Iib.x. c. 21.

4g HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK victories and toils were reserved for times of
v' . tranquillity, and reaped by successors of great
1522. industry, but of inferior merit. The early
historians of America abound with accounts
of the sufferings and of the poverty of its con-
querors.1 In New Spain, their condition was
rendered more grievous by a peculiar arrange-
ment. When Charles V. advanced Cortes to
the government of that country, he at the same
time appointed certain commissioners to re-
ceive and administer the royal revenue there,
with independent jurisdiction. k These men,
chosen from inferior stations in various depart-
ments of public business at Madrid, were so
much elevated with their promotion, that they
thought they were called to act a part of the
first consequence. But being accustomed to
the minute formalities of office, and having
contracted the narrow ideas suited to the
sphere in which they had hitherto moved, they
1524. were astonished on arriving in Mexico, at the
high authority which Cortes exercised, and
could not conceive that the mode of adminis-
tration, in a country recently subdued and
settled, must be different from what took place
in one where tranquillity and regular govern-
ment had been long established. In their let-

J Cortes Relat. 283. F. B. Diaz. c. 209.
11 Herrera, dec. 3. lib. iv. c. 3.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 95

ters, they presented Cortes as an ambitious BOOK
tyrant, who, having usurped a jurisdiction supe- v-
rior to law, aspired at independence, and by 1524.
his exorbitant wealth and extensive influence
might accomplish those disloyal schemes which
he apparently meditated. l These insinuations
made such deep impression upon the Spanish
ministers, most of whom had been formed to
business under the jealous and rigid adminis-
tration of Ferdinand, that, unmindful of all
Cortes's past services, and regardless of what
he was then suffering in conducting that ex-
traordinary expedition, in which he advanced
from the lake of Mexico to the western extre-
mities of Honduras01, they infused the same
suspicions into the mind of their master, and
prevailed on him to order a solemn inquest to
be made into his conduct, with powers to the
licentiate Ponce de Leon, intrusted with that
commission, to seize his person, if he should 1525-
find that expedient, and send hiih prisoner to
Spain/

THE sudden death of Ponce de Leon, a few Cortes re-
days after his arrival in New Spain, prevented spaTn!°
the execution of this commission. But as the
object of his appointment was known, the mind
of Cortes was deeply wounded with this unex-

1 Herrera, dec. 3. lib. T. c. H. m See NOTE VIII.
n Herrera, dec. 3. lib. viii. c. 14, 15.

96 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK pected return for services, which far exceeded
whatever any subject of Spain had rendered to
1525. his sovereign. He endeavoured, however, to
maintain his station, and to recover the confi-
dence of the court. But every person in office,
who had arrived from Spain since the conquest,
was a spy upon his conduct, and with malicious
ingenuity gave an unfavourable representation
of all his actions. The apprehensions of
Charles and his ministers increased. A new
commission of inquiry was issued, with more
extensive powers, and various precautions
were taken in order to prevent or to punish
him, if he should be so presumptuous as to
attempt what was inconsistent with the fidelity
of a subject.0 Cortes beheld the approaching
crisis of his fortune with all the Violent emo-
tions natural to a haughty mind, conscious
of high desert, and receiving unworthy treat-
ment. But though some of his desperate
followers urged him to assert his own rights
against his ungrateful country, and with a
bold hand to seize that power which the
courtiers meanly accused him of coveting1*,
he retained such self-command, or was ac-
tuated with such sentiments of loyalty, as
to reject their dangerous counsels, and to

0 Herrera, dec. 3. lib. viii. c. 15. dec. 4. lib. ii. c. 1. lib. iv.
c. 9, 10. B. Diaz. c. 172. 196. Gomara Cron. c. 166.
P B. Diaz. c. 194.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 97

choose the only course in which he could se- B 0 o K
cure his own dignity, without departing from v_ _7l_,
his duty. He resolved not to expose himself 1528-
to the ignominy of a trial, in that country
which had been the scene of his triumphs ;
but, without waiting for the arrival of his
judges, to repair directly to Castile, and com-
mit himself and his cause to the justice and
generosity of his sovereign. q

CORTES appeared in his native country with His recep-
the splendour that suited the conqueror of a
mighty kingdom. He brought with him a
great part of his wealth, many jewels and or-
naments of great value, several curious pro-
ductions, of the country", and was attended
by some Mexicans of the first rank, as well as
by the most considerable of his own officers.
His arrival in Spain removed at once every
suspicion and fear that had been entertained
with respect to his intentions. The Emperor,
having now nothing to apprehend from the
designs of Cortes, received him like a person
whom consciousness of his own innocence had
brought into the presence of his master, and
who was entitled, by the eminence of his ser-
vices, to the highest marks of distinction afld
respect. The order of St. Jago, the title of

« Herrera, dec. 3. lib. iv. c. 8. r See NOTE IX.
VOL. III. H

98 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK Marquis del Valle de Guaxaca, the grant of

^ , an ample territory in New Spain, were succes-

1.528. sively bestowed upon him ; and as his manners
were correct and elegant, although he had
passed the greater part of his life among rough
adventurers, the Emperor admitted him to
the same familiar intercourse with himself,
that was enjoyed by noblemen of the first
rank. s

Settlement BUT, amidst those external proofs of regard,

of the go- *

vernment symptoms ot remaining distrust appeared.
Though Cortes earnestly solicited to be rein-
stated in the government of New Spain,
Charles, too sagacious to commit such an im-
portant charge to a man whom he had once
suspected, peremptorily refused to invest him
again with powers which he might find it im-
possible to control. Cortes, though dignified
with new titles, returned to Mexico with di-
minished authority/ The military department,
with powers to attempt new discoveries, was
left in his hands ; but the supreme direction
of civil affairs was placed in a board, called
Tlie Audience of New Spain. At a subsequent
period, when, upon the increase of the colony,
the exertion of authority more united and

5 Hen-era, dec. 3. lib. iv. c. 1. lib.vi. c. 4-. B. Diaz,
c. 196. Com. Cron. c. 192.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 99

extensive became necessary, Antonio de Men- BOOK
doza, a nobleman of high rank, was sent thither v>
as Viceroy, to take the government into his 1550.
hands.

THIS division of power in New Spain proved, New
as was unavoidable, the source of perpetual Cortes? C
dissension, which imbittered the life of Cortes,
and thwarted all his schemes. As he had now
no opportunity to display his active talents
but in attempting new discoveries, he formed
various schemes for that purpose, all of which
bear impressions of a genius that delighted in
what was bold and splendid. He early enter-
tained an idea, that, either by steering through
the gulf of Florida along the east coast of
North America, some strait would be found
that communicated with the western ocean j
or that, by examining the isthmus of Darien,
some passage would be discovered between the
North and South Seas. * But having been dis-
appointed in his expectations with respect to
both, he now confined his views to such voy-
ages of discovery as he could make from the
ports of New Spain in the South Sea. There
he fitted out successively several small squad-
rons, which either perished in the attempt, or
returned without making any discovery of

c Cortes Relat. Ram, iii. 294. B.

H 2

100 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK moment. Cortes, weary of intrusting the
^ conduct of his operations to others, took the

1536. command of a new armament in person, and,
after enduring incredible hardships, and en-
countering dangers of every species, he dis-
covered the large peninsula of California, and
surveyed the greater part of the gulf which
separates it from New Spain. The discovery
of a country of such extent would have re-
flected credit on a common adventurer ; but it
could add little new honour to the name of
Cortes, and was far from satisfying the san-
guine expectations which he had formed."
Disgusted with ill success, to which he had not
been accustomed, and weary of contesting
with adversaries to whom he considered it as a

1540. disgrace to be opposed, he once more sought
for redress in his native country.

His death. BUT his reception there was very different
from that which gratitude, and even decency,
ought to have secured for him. The merit of
his ancient exploits was already, in a great
measure, forgotten, or eclipsed by the fame of
recent and more valuable conquests in another
quarter of America. No service of moment
was now expected from a man of declining

11 Herrera, dec. 5. lib. viii. c. 9, 10. dec. 8. lib. vi. c. 14-.
Venegas Hist, of Californ. i. 125. Lorenziana Hist. p. 322,
&c.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 101

years, and who begun to be unfortunate. The BOOK
Emperor behaved to him with cold civility ; Lj_^L_.
his ministers treated him sometimes with ne- 154a
gleet, sometimes with insolence. His griev-
ances received no redress; his claims were
urged without effect; and after several years
spent in fruitless application to ministers and
judges, an occupation the most irksome and
mortifying to a man of high spirit, who had
moved in a sphere where he was more accus-
tomed to command than to solicit, Cortes
ended his days on the second of December
one thousand five hundred and forty-seven,
in the sixty-second year of his age. His fate
was the same with that of all the persons who
distinguished themselves in the discovery or
conquest of the New World. Envied by his
contemporaries, and ill requited by the court
which he served, he has been admired and
celebrated by succeeding ages. Which has
formed the most just estimate of his character,
an impartial consideration of his actions must
determine.

H 3

THE

HISTORY

OF

AMERICA.

BOOK VI.

FROM the time that Nugnez de Balboa dis- BOOK
covered the great Southern Ocean, and ^L ,
received the first obscure hints concerning the 1523«

, . , . Schemes

opulent countries with which it might open a for dis-
communication, the wishes and schemes of
every enterprising person in the colonies of
Darien and Panama were turned towards the
wealth of those unknown regions. In an age
when the spirit of adventure was so ardent antl
vigorous, that large fortunes were wasted, and
the most alarming dangers braved, in pursuit
of discoveries merely possible, the faintest ray
of hope was followed with an eager expecta-
tion, and the slightest information was suffi-
H 4

104 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK cient to inspire such perfect confidence, as
i v^ _> conducted men to the most arduous under-
1525. takings/

Unsuccess- ACCORDINGLY, several armaments were
some time, fitted out in order to explore and take posses-
sion of the countries to the east of Panama,
but under the conduct of leaders whose talents
and resources were unequal to the attempt. b
As the excursions of those adventurers did not
extend beyond the limits of the province to
which the Spaniards have given the name of
Tierra Firme, a mountainous region covered
with woods, thinly inhabited, and extremely
unhealthy, they returned with dismal accounts
concerning the distresses to which they had
been exposed, and the unpromising aspect of
the places which they had visited. Damped
by these tidings, the rage for discovery in that
direction abated ; and it became the general
opinion, that Balboa had founded visionary
hopes, on the tale of an ignorant Indian, ill
understood, or calculated to deceive.

1524. gUT there were three persons settled in Pa-
Under-
taken by nama, on whom the circumstances which de-

Ahnagro, terred others made so little impression, that at
andLuque. the verv moment when all considered Balboa's

a See NOTE X. b Calancha Coronica, p. 100.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 105

expectations of discovering a rich country, by B o o K
steering towards the east, as chimerical, they
resolved to attempt the execution of his 1524.
scheme. The names of those extraordinary
men were Francisco Pizarro, Diego de Al-
magro, and Hernando Luque. Pizarro was
the natural son of a gentleman of an honour-
able family by a very low woman, and, accord-
ing the cruel fate which often attends the off-
spring of unlawful love, had been so totally ne-
glected in his youth by the author of his birth,
that he seems to have destined him never to
rise beyond the condition of his mother. In
consequence of this ungenerous idea, he set
him, when bordering on manhood, to keep
hogs. But the aspiring mind of young Pizarro
disdaining that ignoble occupation, he abruptly
abandoned his charge, enlisted as a soldier,
and, after serving some years in Italy, em-
barked for America, which, by opening such
a boundless range to active talents, allured
every adventurer, whose fortune was not equal
to his ambitious thoughts. There Pizarro early
distinguished himself. With a temper of mind
no less daring than the constitution of his body
was robust, he was foremost in every danger,
patient under the greatest hardships, and un-
subdued by any fatigue. Though so illiterate
that he could not even read, he was soon con-

106 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

3 o o K sidered as a man formed to command. Every
VI< operation committed to his conduct proved
successful, as, by a happy but rare conjunc-
tion, he united perseverance with ardour, and
was as cautious in executing, as he was bold
in forming his plans. By engaging early in
active life, without any resource but his own
talents and industry, and by depending ofi
himself alone in his struggles to emerge from
obscurity, he acquired such a thorough know-
ledge of affairs, and of men, that he was fitted
to assume a superior part in conducting the
former, and ixi governing the latter. °

ALMAGRO had as little to boast of his descent
as Pizarro. The one was a bastard, the other a
foundling. Bred, like his companion, in the
camp, he yielded not to him in any of the sol-
dierly qualities of intrepid valour, indefatiga-
ble activity, or insurmountable constancyin en-
during the hardships inseparable from military
service in the New World. But in Almagro
these virtues were accompanied with the open-
ness, generosity, and candour, natural to men
whose profession is arms; in Pizarro, they were
united with the address, the craft, and the
dissimulation of a politician, with the art of

c Herrera, dec. 1 & 2. passim, dec. 4. lib. vL e. 107.
GomaraHist. c. 144?. ZaKite, lib. iv. c. 9*

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 107

concealing his own purposes, and with saga- BOOK
city to penetrate into those of other men. VL

1524,

HERN AND o DE LUQUE was an ecclesiastic,
who acted both as priest and schoolmaster at
Panama, and, by means which the contem-
porary writers have not described, bad amassed
riches that inspired him with thoughts of
rising to greater eminence.

SUCH were the men destined to overturn Terms of
one of the most extensive empires on the face
of the earth. Their confederacy for this pur-
pose was authorised by Pedrarias, the go-
vernor of Panama. Each engaged to employ
his whole fortune in the adventure. Pizarro,
the least wealthy of the three, as he could not
throw so large a sum as his associates into the
common stock, engaged to take the depart-
ment of greatest fatigue and danger, and to
command in person the armament which was
to go first upon discovery. Almagro offered
to conduct the supplies of provisions and re-
inforcements of troops, of which Pizarro might
stand in need. Luque was to remain at Pa-
nama to negotiate with the governor, and
superintend whatever was carrying on for the
general interest. As the spirit of enthusiasm
uniformly accompanied that of adventure in
the New World, and by that strange union

108 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK both acquired an increase of force, this eon-
^_ ^ federacy, formed by ambition and avarice,
1524. was confirmed by the most solemn act of re-
ligion. Luque celebrated mass, divided a
consecrated host into three, and reserving one
part to himself, gave the other two to his as-
sociates, of which they partook ; and thus, in
the name of the Prince of Peace, ratified a
contract of which plunder and bloodshed were
the objects/

Their first THE attempt was begun with a force more
attempt. suited to the humble condition of the three
associates, than to the greatness of the en-
Nov. H. terprise in which they were engaged. Pizarro
set sail from Panama with a single vessel,
of small burden, and a hundred and twelve
men. But in that age, so little were the
Spaniards acquainted with the peculiarities
of climate in America, that the time which
Pizarro chose for his departure was the most
improper in the whole year; the periodical
winds which were then set in, being directly
adverse to the course which he proposed to
steer. e After beating about for seventy days,
with much danger and incessant fatigue,
Pizarro's progress towards the south-east

d Herrera, dec. 3. lib. vi. c. 13. Zarate, lib. i. c. 1.
e Herrera, dec. 4. .lib. ii. c. 8. Xerez, p. 179.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 10g

was not greater than what a skilful navigator BOOK
will now make in as many hours. He touched t VI1 .
at several places on the coast of Tierra Firme, 1525.
but found everywhere the same uninviting
country which former adventurers had de-
scribed; the low grounds .converted into
swamps by an overflowing of rivers ; the
higher, covered with impervious woods ; few
inhabitants, and those fierce and hostile. Fa-
mine, fatigue, frequent rencounters with the
natives, and, above all, the distempers of a
moist, sultry climate, combined in wasting his
slender band of followers. The undaunted Attended
resolution of their leader continued, however, success.
for some time, to sustain their spirits, although
no sign had yet appeared of discovering those
golden regions to which he had promised to
conduct them. At length he was obliged to
abandon that inhospitable coast, and retire to
Chuchama, opposite to the pearl islands, where
he hoped to receive a supply of provisions and
troops from Panama.

BUT Almagro having sailed from that port
with seventy men, stood directly towards that
part of the continent where he hoped to meet
with his associates. Not finding him there,
he landed his soldiers, who, in searching for
their companions, underwent the same dis-
tresses, and were exposed to the same dangers,

110 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK which had driven them out of the country.
L T1^ ^ Repulsed at length by the Indians in a sharp

1525. conflict, in which* their leader lost one of his
eyes by the wound of an arrow, they likewise
were compelled to reimbark. Chance led them
to the place of Pizarro's retreat, where they
found some consolation in recounting to each
other their adventures, and comparing their

June E4. sufferings. As Almagro had advanced as far
as the river St. Juan, in the province of Po-
payan, where both the country and inhabi-
tants appeared with a more promising aspect,
that dawn of better fortune was sufficient to
determine such sanguine projectors not to
abandon their scheme, notwithstanding all that
they had suffered in prosecuting it.f

1526. ALMAGRO repaired to Panama, in hopes of
sume the recruiting their shattered troops. But what he
illg.61 " and Pizarro had suffered, gave his country-
men such an unfavourable idea of the service,
that it was with difficulty he could levy four-
score men. s Feeble as this reinforcement was,
Almagro took the command of it, and having
joined Pizarro, they did not hesitate about
resuming their operations. After a long series
of disasters and disappointments, not inferior
to those which they had already experienced,

f Herrera, dec. 3. lib. viii. c. 11 , 12. See NOTE XI.
8 Zarate, lib. i. c. 1 .

HISTORY OF AMERICA. HI

part of the armament reached the Bay of B O o K
St. Matthew, on the coast of Quito, and
landing at Tacamez, to the south of the river
of Emeraulds, they beheld a country more
champaign and fertile than any they had
yet discovered in the Southern Ocean, the na-
tives clad in garments of woollen or cotton
stuff, and adorned with several trinkets of gold
and silver.

BUT, notwithstanding those favourable ap-
pearances, magnified beyond the truth, both
by the vanity of the persons who brought the
report from Tacamez, and by the fond imagi-
nation of those who listened to them, Pizarro
and Almagro durst not venture to invade a
country so populous with a handful of men
enfeebled by fatigue and diseases. They re-
tired to the small island of Gallo, where Pi-
zarro remained with part of the troops, and
his associate returned to Panama, in hopes of
bringing such a reinforcement as might en-
able them to take possession of the opulent
territories, whose existence seemed to be no
longer doubtful.11

BUT some of the adventurers, less enterpris- Pizarro re-
ing, or less hardy than their leaders, having Si^w-

nor of Pa-
nama.
b Xerez, 181. Herrera, dec. 3. lib. viii. c. 13.

HIStORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK secretly conveyed lamentable accounts of their
^_ sufferings and losses to their friends at Panama,

1526. Almagro met with an unfavourable reception
from Pedro de los Rios, who had succeeded
Pedrarias in the government of that settle-
ment. After weighing the matter with that-
cold economical prudence, which appears the
first of all virtues to persons whose limited fa-
culties are incapable of conceiving or execut-
ing great designs, he concluded an expedition,
attended with such certain waste of men, to be
so detrimental to an infant and feeble colony,
that he not only prohibited the raising of new
levies, but dispatched a vessel to bring home
Pizarro and his companions from the island of
Gallo. Almagro and Luque, though deeply
affected with those measures, which they could
not prevent, and durst not oppose, found means
of communicating their sentiments privately to
Pizarro, and exhorted him not to relinquish an
enterprise that was the foundation of all their
hopes, and the only means of re-establishing
their reputation and fortune, which were both
on the decline. Pizarro's mind, bent with
inflexible obstinacy on all its purposes, needed
Persists in no incentive to persist in the scheme. He
peremptorily refused to obey the governor of
Panama's orders, and employed all his address

and eloquence in persuading his men not to

10

signs.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 1 j^

abandon him. But the incredible calamities BOOK
to which they had been exposed were still so VI
recent in their memories, and the thoughts of
revisiting their families and friends after a long
absence, rushed with such joy into their minds,
that when Pizarro drew a line upon the sand
with IMS sword, permitting such as wished to
return home to pass over it, only thirteen of
all the daring veterans in his service had reso-
lution to remain with their commander.1

THIS small, but determined band, whose
names the Spanish historians record with de-
served praise, as the persons to whose perse-
vering fortitude their country is indebted for
the most valuable of all its American posses-
sions, fixed their residence in the island of Gor-
gona. This, as it was farther removed from
the coast than Gallo, and uninhabited, they
considered as a more secure retreat, where,
unmolested, they might wait for supplies from
Panama, which they trusted that the activity
of their associates would be able to procure.
Almagro and Luque were not inattentive or
cold solicitors, and their incessant importunity
was seconded by the general voice of the co-
lony, which exclaimed loudly against the in-

1 Herrera, dec. 3. lib. x. c. 2, 3. Zarate, Jib. i. c. 2.
Xerez, 181 . Gomara Hist. c. 109.

VOL. III. I

114 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK famy of exposing brave men, engaged m the
._J^_. public service, and chargeable with no error,
1526. but what flowed from an excess of zeal and
courage, to perish like the most odious crimi-
nals in a desert isknd. Overcome by those en-
treaties and expostulations, the governor at last
consented to send a small vessel to their relief.
But that he might not seem to encourage Pi-
zarro ta any new enterprise, he would not
permit one landman to embark on board of it.

Hardships BY this time, Pizarro and his companions
dured, had remained five months in an island, infa-
mous for the most unhealthy climate in that
region of America. k During all this period,
their eyes were turned towards Panama, in
hopes of succour from their countrymen ; but
worn out at length with fruitless expectations,
and dispirited with suffering hardships of which
they saw no end, they, in despair, came to a
resolution of committing themselves to the
ocean on a float, rather than continue in that
detestable abode. But, on the arrival of tiie
vessel from Panama, they were transported with
such joy, that all their sufferings were forgot-
ten. Their hopes revived, and, with a rapid
transition,, not unnatural among men accus-
tomed by their mode of life to sudden vicissi-

* See NOTE XII.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 115

tudes of fortune, liigh confidence succeeding BOOK
to extreme dejection, Pizarro easily induced . ^'__ ,
not only his own followers, but the crew of 1526
the vessel from Panama, to resume his former
scheme with fresh ardour. Instead of return-
ing to Panama, they stood towards the south-
east, and more fortunate in this than in any
of their past efforts, they, on the twentieth day
after their departure from Gorgona, discovered
the coast of Peru. After touching at several Discovers
villages near the shore, which they found to be
no wise inviting, they landed at Tumbez, a
place of some note, about three degrees south
of the line, distinguished for its stately temple,
and a palace of the Incas or sovereigns of the
country. l There the Spaniards feasted their
eyes with the first view of the opulence and
civilisation of the Peruvian empire. They
beheld a country fully peopled, and cultivated
with an appearance of regular industry ; the
natives decently clothed, and possessed of in-
genuity so far surpassing the other inhabitants
of the New World, as to have the use of tame
domestic animals. But what chiefly attracted
their notice, was such a show of gold and silver,
not only in the ornaments of their persons and
temples, but in several vessels and utensils for

1 Calancha, p. 103.

i 2

116 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK common use, formed of those precious metals,
t VL as left no room to doubt that they abounded
1526. wjth profusion in the country. Pizarro and
his companions seemed now to have attained
to the completion of their most sanguine hopes,
and fancied that all their wishes and dreams
of rich domains, and inexhaustible treasures,
would soon be realised.

Returns to BUT with the slender force then under his

Panama. .

command, rizarro could only view the rich
country of which he hoped hereafter to obtain
possession. He ranged, however, for some
time along the coast, maintaining every where
a peaceable intercourse with the natives, no
less astonished at their new visitants, than the
Spaniards were with the uniform appearance of
opulence and cultivation which they beheld.
1527, Having explored the country as far as was re-
quisite to ascertain the importance of the dis-
covery, Pizarro procured from the inhabitants
some of their Llamas or tame cattle, to which
the Spaniards gave the name of sheep, some
vessels of gold and silver, as well as some spe-
cimens of their other works of ingenuity, and
two young men, whom he proposed to instruct
in theCastilian language, that they might serve
as interpreters in the expedition which he medi-
tated. With these he arrived at Panama, towards

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 117

the close of the third year from the time of B o o K
his departure thence.m No adventurer of the ^L _,
age suffered hardships or encountered dangers 1527-
which equal those to which he was exposed
during this long period. The patience with
which he endured the one, and the fortitude
with which he surmounted the other, exceed
whatever is recorded in the history of the New
World, where so many romantic displays of
those virtues occur.

NEITHER the splendid relation that Pizarro 1528.
gave of the incredible opulence of the coun- schemes of
try which he had discovered, nor his bitter ciates!°
complaints on account of that unseasonable
recal of his forces, which had put it out of his
power to attempt making any settlement there,
could move the governor of Panama to swerve
from his former plan of conduct. He still
contended, that the colony was not in a con-
dition to invade such a mighty empire, and
refused to authorise an expedition which he
foresaw would be so alluring that it might
ruin the province in which he presided, by an
effort beyond its strength. His coldness,
however, did not in any degree abate the

m Herrera, dec. 3. tfb. x. c. 3—6. dec. 4. lib. ii. c. 7, 8.
Vega, 2. lib. i. c. 10— 14u Zarate, lib. i. c. 2. Benzo Hist.
Novi Orbis, lib. iii. c. 1

i 3

118 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK ardour of the three associates ; but they pei4--
. '_, ceived that they could not carry their scheme
1528. into execution without the countenance of su-
perior authority, and must solicit their sovereign
to grant that permission which they could not
extort from his delegate. With this view,
after adjusting among themselves, that Pizarro
should claim the station of governor, Alma-
gro that of lieutenant-governor, and Luque
the dignity of bishop in the country which
they purposed to conquer, they sent Pizarro
as their agent to Spain, though their fortunes
were now so much exhausted by the repeated
efforts which they had made, that they found
some difficulty in borrowing the small sum
requisite towards equipping him for the voy-
age."

PIZARRO lost no time in repairing to court,

sent to , 'ii i-i

Spain to and new as the scene might be to him, he
negotiate. appearec[ before the Emperor with the unem-
barrassed dignity of a man conscious of what
his services merited ; and he conducted his ne-
gotiations with an insinuating dexterity of ad-
dress, which could not have been expected
either from his education or former habits of
life. His feeling description of his own suf-
ferings, and his pompous account of the coun-

Herrera, dec. 4. lib. Hi. c. 1. Vega, 2, lib.i. c. 14.
ii

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 119

try which he had discovered, confirmed by the BOOK

VI

specimens of its ^productions which he exhi-
bited, made such an impression both on Charles
and his ministers, that they not only approvecj
of the intended expedition, but seemed to be
interested in the success of its leader. Pre-
suming on those dispositions in his favour, Pi-
zarro paid little .attention to the interest of his
associates. As the pretensions of Luque did Neglects
not interfere with his own, he obtained for dates^"
him the ecclesiastical .dignity to which he as-
pired. For Almagro, he claimed only the com-
mand of the fortress which should be erected
at Tumbez. To himself he secured whatever
his boundless ambition could desire. He was July 26.
appointed governor, captain-general, and ade- cures

lantado of all the country which he had disco-
vered, and hoped to , conquer, with supreme to himself.
authority, civil as well as military ; and with
full right to all the privileges and emoluments
usually granted to adventurers in the New
World. His jurisdiction was declared to extend
two hundred leagues along the coast to the
south of the river St. Jago ; to be independent
of the governor of Panama; and he had power
to nominate all the officers who were to serve
under him. In return for those concessions,
which cost the court of Spain nothing, as the
enjoyment of them depended upon the success

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

B o 0 K of Pizarro's own efforts, he engaged to raise

two hundred and fifty men, and to provide the

1528. ships, arms, and warlike stores requisite towards

subjecting to the crown of Castile the country

of which the government was allotted him.

slender INCONSIDERABLE as the body of men was
was able which Pizarro had undertaken to raise, his
to raise, f^^g an(j cre(Jit were so low that he could
hardly complete half the number ; and after
obtaining his patents from the crown, he was
obliged to steal privately out of the port of
Seville, in order to elude the scrutiny of the
officers who had it in charge to examine,
whether he had fulfilled the stipulations in
his contract.0 Before his departure, however,
he received some supply of money from Cortes,
who having returned to Spain about this time,
was willing to contribute his aid towards
enabling an ancient companion, with whose
talents and courage he was well acquainted,
to begin a career of glory similar to that which
he himself had finished. p

HE landed at Nombre de Dios, and marched
across the isthmus to Panama, accompanied by
his three brothers Ferdinand, Juari, and Gon-

0 Herrera, dec. 4. lib. vii. c. 9. p Ibid. Jib. vii. c. 10.
12

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

zalo, of whom the first was born in lawful wed- BOOK
lock, the two latter, like himself, were of ille-
gitimate birth, and by Francisco de Alcantara,
his mother's brother. They were all in the
prime of life, and of such abilities and courage,
as fitted them to take a distinguished part in
his subsequent transactions.

ON his arrival at Panama, Pizarro found .

His recon-

Almagro so much exasperated at the manner dilation
in which he had conducted his negotiation,
that he not only refused to act any longer in
concert with a man by whose perfidy he had
been excluded from the power and honours to
which he had a just claim, but laboured to
form a new association, in order to thwart or
to rival his former confederate in his disco-
veries. Pizarro, however, had more wisdom
and address than to suffer a rupture so fatal to
all his schemes, to become irreparable. By
offering voluntarily to relinquish the office of
adelantado, and promising to concur in so-
liciting that title, with an independent go-
vernment, for Almagro, he gradually miti-
gated the rage of an open-hearted soldier,
which had been violent, but was not impla-
cable. Luque, highly satisfied with having
been successful in all his own pretensions,
cordially seconded Pizarro's endeavours. A
reconciliation was effected, and the con-

HISTORY OF AMERICA,

BOOK federacy renewed on its original terms, that

., _TL the enterprise should be carried on at the

1550. common expense of the associates, and the

profits accruing from it should be equally

divided among them..q

Their ar- EVEN after their re-union, and the utmost
efforts of their interest, three small vessels,
with a hundred and eighty soldiers, thirty-six
of whom were horsemen, composed the arma-
ment which they were .able to fit out. But
the astonishing progress of the Spaniards in
America had inspired them with such ideas of
their own superiority, that Pizarro did not
1531. hesitate to sail with this contemptible force to

February. .

invade a great empire. Almagro was left at
Panama, as formerly, to follow him with what
reinforcement of men he should be able to
muster. As the season for embarking was
properly chosen, and the course of navigation
between Panama and Peru was now better
known, Pizarro completed the voyage in
thirteen days; though by the force of the
winds and currents, he was carried above a
hundred leagues to the north of Tumbez, the
Lands in place of his destination, and obliged to land
his troops in the bay of St. Matthew. With-

q Herrera, dec. 4. lib. vii. c. 9. Zarate, lib. i. c. 3-
Vega, 2. lib.i. c. 14?.

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

out losing a moment, he began to advance to- B o o K
'wards the south, taking care, however, not to L -*'_,
-depart far from the sea-shore, both that he J su-
nlight easily effect a junction with the supplies
which he expected from Panama, and secure
a retreat in case of any disaster, by keeping
as near as possible to his ships. But as the
country in several parts on the coast of Peru
is barren, unhealthful, and thinly peopled; as
the Spaniards had to pass all the rivers near
their, mouth, where the body of water is
-greatest, and as the imprudence of Pizarro,
in attacking the natives when he should have
studied to gain their confidence, had forced
them to abandon their habitations; famine,
iatigue, and diseases of various kinds, brought
upon him and his followers calamities hardly
inferior to those which they had endured in
their former expedition. What they now ex-
perienced corresponded so ill with the alluring
description of the country given by Pizarro,
that many began to reproach him, and every
soldier must have become cold to the service,
if even in this unfertile region of Peru they
had not met with some appearances of wealth
and cultivation, which seemed to justify the
j-eport of their leader. At length they reached April 14.
the province of Coaque ; and, having surprised
the principal settlement -of the natives, they
seized their vessels and ornaments of gold and

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK silver, -to the amount of thirty thousand pesos,
with other booty of such value, as dispelled
i53i. all their doubts, "and inspired the most de-
sponding with sanguine hopes/

Hismea- PizARRO himself was so much delighted
Staining a with this rich spoil, which he considered as
the first fruits of a land abounding with trea-
sure, that he instantly dispatched one of his
ships to Panama with a large remittance to
Almagro; and another to Nicaragua with a
considerable sum to several persons of influ-
ence in that province, in hopes of alluring ad-
venturers, by this early display of the wealth
which he had acquired. Meanwhile, he con-
tinued his march along the coast, and disdain-
ing to employ any means of reducing the na-
tives but force, he attacked them with such
violence in their scattered habitations, as com-
pelled them either to retire into the interior
country, or to submit to his yoke. This sudden
appearance of invaders, whose aspect and man-
ners were so strange, and whose power seemed
to be so irresistible, made the same dreadful
impression as in other parts of America.
Pizarro hardly met with resistance until he
attacked the island of Puna in the bay of Guay-
quil. As that was better peopled than the

r Hcrrcra, dec. 4-. lib. vii. c. 9. lib, ii, c. i. Xerez, 182.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 125

country through which he had passed, and its BOOK
inhabitants fiercer and less civilised than those L _^ _J
of the continent, they defended themselves I531«
with such obstinate valour, that Pizarro spent
six months in reducing them to subjection.
From Puna he proceeded to Tumbez, where
the distempers which raged among his men
compelled him to remain for three months. s

WHILE he was thus employed, he began to Receives

r J some, and

reap advantage from his attention to spread
the fame of his first success to Coaque. Two
different detachments arrived from Nicaragua,
which, though neither exceeded thirty men,
he considered as a reinforcement of great
consequence to his feeble band, especially as
the one was under the command of Sebastian
Benalcazar, and the other of Hernando Soto,
officers not inferior in merit and reputation
to any who had served in America. From
Tumbez hq proceeded to the river Piura, and May ie.
in an advantageous station near the mouth
of it, he established the first Spanish colony
in Peru ; to which he gave the name of St.
Michael.

s P. Sancho ap. Ramus. iii. p. 371. F. Herrera, dec. 4.
lib.vii. c. 18. lib. ix. c,i. Zarate, lib. ii. c.2, 3. Xerez,
p, 182, &c.

126 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

As Pizarro continued to advance towards-
the centre of the Peruvian empire, he gradu-
i5.>2. ally received more full information concerning
its extent and policy, as well as the situation
of its affairs at that juncture. Without some
knowledge of these, he could not have con-
ducted his operations with propriety ; and
without a suitable attention to them, it is im-
possible to account for the progress which the
Spaniards had already made, or to unfold the
causes of their subsequent success.

state of AT the time when the Spaniards invaded

th»Peru- .__ . . «. . T ,

vian em- Peru, the dominions of its sovereigns extended
in length, from north to south, above fifteen
hundred miles along the Pacific ocean. Its
breadth, from east to west, was much less con-
siderable ; being uniformly bounded by the
vast ridge of the Andes, stretching from its
one extremity to the other. Peru, like the
rest of the New World, was originally pos.-
sessed by small independent tribes, differing
from each other in manners, and. in their
forms of rude policy. All, however, were
so little civilised, that, if the traditions con-
cerning their mode of life, preserved among
their descendants, deserve credit, they must
be classed among the most unimproved sa^
vages of America. Strangers to every species

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 127

of cultivation or regular industry, without BOOK
any fixed residence, and unacquainted with t _.Y*!_ j
those sentiments and obligations which form 1532.
the first bonds of social union, they are said
to have roamed about naked in the forests, .
with which the country was then covered,
more like wild beasts than like men. After
they had struggled for several ages with the
hardships and calamities which are inevitable
hi such a state, and when no circumstance
seemed to indicate the approach of any un-
common effort towards improvement, we are
told that there appeared, on the banks of the
lake Titiaca, a man and woman of majestic
form, clothed in decent garments. They de-
clared themselves to be children of the Sun,
sent by their beneficent parent, who beheld
with pity the miseries of the human race, to
instruct and to reclaim them. At their per-
suasion, enforced by reverence for the divinity
in whose name they were supposed to speak,
several of the dispersed savages united toge-
ther, and receiving their commands as hea-
venly injunctions, followed them to Cuzco,
where they settled and began to lay the foun-
dations of a city.

MANCO CAPAC and Mama Ocollo, for such
were the names of those extraordinary person-

128 v HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK ages, having thus collected some wandering
tribes, formed that social union, which, by
multiplying the desires, and uniting the ef-
forts of the human species, excites industry,
and leads to improvement. Manco Capac
instructed the men in agriculture, and other
useful arts. Mama Ocollo taught the women
to spin and to weave. By the labour of the
one sex, subsistence became less precarious ;
by that of the other, life was rendered rnore
comfortable. After securing the objects of
first necessity in an infant state, by providing
food, raiment, and habitations, for the rude
people of whom he took charge, Manco Capac
turned his attention towards introducing such
laws and policy as might perpetuate their hap-
piness. By his institutions, which shall be
more particularly explained hereafter, the
various relations in private life were estab-
lished, and the duties resulting from them
prescribed with such propriety, as gradually
formed a barbarous people to decency of man-
ners. In public administration, the functions
of persons in authority were so precisely de-
fined, and the subordination of those under
their jurisdiction maintained with such a steady
hand, that the society in which he presided,
soon assumed the aspect of a regular and well-
governed state.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 129

THUS, according to the Indian tradition, was BOOK
founded the empire of the Incas or Lords of ^
Peru. At first its extent was small. The ter- 1532,
ritory of Manco Capac did not reach above
eight leagues from Cuzco. But within its nar-
row precincts he exercised absolute and un-
controlled authority. His successors, as their
dominions extended, arrogated a similar juris-
diction over the new subjects which they ac-
quired ; the despotism of Asia was not more
complete. The Incas were not only obeyed as
monarchs, but revered as divinities. Their
blood was held to be sacred, and, by prohibit-
ing intermarriages with the people, was never
contaminated by mixing with that of any other
race. The family, thus separated from the rest*
of the nation, was distinguished by peculiarities
in dress and ornaments, which it was unlawful
for others to assume. The monarch himself
appeared with ensigns of royalty reserved for
him alone; and received from his subjects
marks of obsequious homage and respect,
which approached almost to adoration.

BUT, among the Peruvians, this unbounded
power of their monarchs seems to have been
uniformly accompanied with attention to the
good of their subjects. It was not the rage of
conquest^ if we may believe the accounts of

VOL. III. K

130 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK their countrymen, that prompted the Incas to
^ TL , extend their dominions, but the desire of dif-
1532. fusing the blessings of civilisation, and the
knowledge of the arts which they possessed,
among the barbarous people whom they re-
duced. During a succession of twelve mo-
narchs, it is said that not one deviated from
this beneficent character. e

WHEN the Spaniards first visited the coast of
Peru, in the year one thousand five hundred
and twenty-six, Huana Capac, the twelfth
monarch from the founder of the state, was
seated on the throne. He is represented as a
prince distinguished not only for the pacific
virtues peculiar to the race, but eminent for
his martial talents. By his victorious arms the
kingdom of Quito was subjected, a conquest
of such extent and importance as almost dou-
bled the power of the Peruvian empire. He
was fond of residing in the capital of that
valuable province, which he had added to his
dominions ; and notwithstanding the ancient
and fundamental law of the monarchy against
polluting the royal blood by any foreign alli-
ance, he married the daughter of the van-
quished monarch of Quito. She bore him a

1 Cieca de Leon, Chron. c. 44. Herrera, dec. 3. lib. x.
c. 4?. dec. 5. lib. iii. c. 17.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 131

son named Atahualpa, whom, on his death at B o o K
Quito, which seems to have happened about t VIL _,
the year one thousand five hundred and twenty- 1 552.
nine, he appointed his successor in that king-
dom, leaving the rest of his dominions to
Huascar, his eldest son, by another of the royal
race. Greatly as the Peruvians revered the
memory of a monarch who had reigned with
greater reputation and splendour than any of
his predecessors, the destination of Huana Ca-
pac concerning the succession appeared so re-
pugnant to a maxim coeval with the empire,
and founded on authority deemed sacred, that
it was no sooner known at Cuzco than it ex-
cited general disgust. Encouraged by those
sentiments of his subjects, Huascar required
his brother to renounce the government of
Quito, and to acknowledge him as his lawful
superior. But it had been the first care of Ata-
hualpa to gain a large body of troops which had
accompanied his father to Quito. These were
the flower of the Peruvian warriors* to whose
valour Huana Capac had been indebted for all
his victories. Relying on their support, Ata-
hualpa first eluded his brother's demand, and
then marched against him in hostile array.

THUS the ambition of two young men, the
title of the one founded on ancient usage, and
that of the other asserted by the veteran troops.

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK involved Peru in civil war, a calamity to which,
L .._• __. under a succession of virtuous princes, it had
1552. hitherto been a stranger. In such a contest
the issue was obvious. The force of arms tri-
umphed over the authority of laws. Atahu-
alpa remained victorious, and made a cruel
use of his victory. Conscious of the defect in
his own title to the crown, he attempted to
exterminate the royal race, by putting to death
all the children of the Sun descended from
Manco Capac, whom he could seize either by
force or stratagem. From a political motive,
the life of his unfortunate rival Huascar, who
had been taken prisoner in a battle which de-
cided the fate of the empire, was prolonged for
some time, that by issuing orders in his name
the usurper might more easily establish his own
authority."

Favour- WHEN Pizarro landed in the bay of St. Mat-
able to the
progress of thew, this civil war raged between the two

brothers in its greatest fury. Had he made any
hostile attempt in his former visit to Peru in the
year one thousand five hundred and twenty-
seven, he must then have encountered the force
of a powerful state, united under a monarch,
possessed of capacity as well as courage, and

u Zarate, lib. i. c. 15. Vega, 1. lib. ix. c. 12. and 32—
40. Herrera, dec. 5. lib. i. c. 2. lib. iii. c. 17.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 133

unembarrassed with any care that could divert BOOK
him from opposing his progress. But at this , - -._'
time, the two competitors, though they received 1 532."
early accounts of the arrival and violent pro-
ceedings of the Spaniards, were so intent upon
the operations of a war, which they deemed
more interesting, that they paid no attention
to the motions of an enemy, too inconsiderable
in number to excite any great alarm, and to
whom, it would be easy, as they imagined, to
give a check when more at leisure.

BY this fortunate coincidence of events, He avails
whereof Pizarro could have no foresight, and of

which, from his defective mode of intercourse vances-
with the people of the country, he remained
long ignorant, he was permitted to carry on his
operations unmolested, and advanced to the
centre of a great empire before one effort of its
power was exerted to stop his career. During
their progress, the Spaniards had acquired some
imperfect knowledge of this struggle between
the two contending factions. The first complete
information with respect to it, they received
from messengers whom Huascar sent to Pizarro,
in order to solicit his aid against Atahualpa,
whom he represented as a rebel and an usurper.™
Pizarro perceived at once the importance of

4

w Zarate, lib.ii. c.3.
K 3

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK this intelligence, and foresaw so clearly all the
v ^ _, advantages which might be derived from this
1532. divided state of the kingdom, which he had in-
vaded, that without waiting for the reinforce-
ment which he expected from Panama, he
determined to push forward, while intestine
discord put it out of the power of the Peru-
vians to attack him with their whole force, and
while, by taking part, as circumstances should
incline him, with one of the competitors, he
might be enabled with greater ease to crush
both. Enterprising as the Spaniards of that
age were in all their operations against Ameri-
cans, and distinguished as Pizarro was among
his countrymen for daring courage, we can
hardly suppose, that, after having proceeded
hitherto slowly, and with much caution, he
would have changed at once his system of
operation, and have ventured upon a measure
so hazardous, without some new motive or
prospect to justify it.

State of As he was obliged to divide his troops, in
order to leave a garrison iu St. Michael, suf-
ficient to defend a station of equal importance
as a place of retreat in case of any disaster, and
as a port for receiving any supplies which
should come from Panama, he began his march
With a very slender and ill-accoutred train of

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 135

followers. They consisted of sixty-two horse- BOOK
rnenx, and a hundred and two foot-soldiers, of t VIt
whom twenty were armed with cross-bows, and 1532.
three with muskets. He directed his course
towards Caxamalca, a small town at the dis-
tance of twelve days' march from St. Michael,
where Atahualpa was encamped with a con-
siderable body of troops. Before he had pro-
ceeded far, an officer dispatched by the Inca
met him with a valuable present from that
prince, accompanied with a proffer of his alli-
ance, and assurances of a friendly reception at
Caxamalca. Pizarro, according to the usual
artifice of his countrymen in America, pre-
tended to come as the ambassador of a very
powerful monarch, and declared that he was
now advancing with an intention to offer
Atahualpa his aid against those enemies who
disputed his title to the throne. y

As the object of the Spaniards in entering: ideas of

:,. ix '• thePera-

their country was altogether incomprehensible vians con-
to the Peruvians, they had formed various con-
jectures concerning it, without being able to
decide whether they should consider their new
guests as beings of a superior nature, who had
visited them from some beneficent motive, or

x See NOTE XIII.

y Herrera, dec. 5. lib. i. c.3. Xerez, p. 189.
K 4

136 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

B o d K as formidable avengers of their crimes and
i —w~__. enemies to their repose and liberty. The con-
1532> tinual professions of the Spaniards, that they
came to enlighten them with the knowledge
of truth, and lead them in the way of happi-
ness, favoured the former opinion ; the out-
rages which they committed, their rapacious-
ness and cruelty, were awful confirmations of
the latter. While in this state of uncertainty,
Pizarro's declaration of his pacific intentions
so far removed all the Inca's fears, that he
determined to give him a friendly reception.
In consequence of this resolution, the Spa-
niards were allowed to march in tranquillity
across the sandy desert between St. Michael
and Motupe, where the most feeble effort of
an enemy, added to the unavoidable distresses
which they suffered in passing through that
comfortless region, must have proved fatal to
them. z From Motupe they advanced towards
the mountains which encompassed the lew
country of Peru, and passed through a defile
so narrow and inaccessible, that a few men
might have defended it against a numerous
army. But here likewise, from the same incon-
siderate credulity of the Inca, the Spaniards
met with no opposition, and took quiet pos-
session of a fort erected for the security of that

z Sec NOTE XIV.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 137

important station. As they now approached BOOK
near to Caxamalca, Atahualpa renewed his
professions of friendship; and as an evidence
of their sincerity, sent them presents of greater
value than the former.

ON entering Caxamalca, Pizarro took pos- Arrive at
session of a large court, on one side of which
was a house which the Spanish historians call a
palace of the Inca, and on the other a temple
of the Sun, the whole surrounded with a
strong rampart or wall of earth. When he
had posted his troops in this advantageous
station, he dispatched his brother Ferdinand
and Hernando Soto to the camp of Atahualpa,
which was about a league distant from the
town. He instructed them to confirm the
declaration which he had formerly made of
his pacific disposition, and to desire an inter-
view with the Inca, that he might explain
more^ fully the intention of the Spaniards in
visiting his country. They were treated with
all the respectful hospitality usual among the
Peruvians in the reception of their most cor-
dial friends, and Atahualpa promised to visit
the Spanish commander next day in his quar-
ters. The decent deportment of the Peruvian
monarch, the order of his court, and the re-
verence with which his subjects approached his

138 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK person and obeyed his commands, astonished
L_y^_, those Spaniards, who had never met in America
1532. with any thing more dignified than the petty
cazique of a barbarous tribe. But their eyes
were still powerfully attracted by the vast pro-
fusion of wealth which they observed in the
Inca's camp. The rich ornaments worn by
him and his attendants, the vessels of gold and
silver in which the repast offered to them was
served up, the multitude of utensils of every
kind formed of those precious metals, opened
prospects far exceeding any idea of opulence
that an European of the sixteenth century
could form.

Perfidious ON their return to Caxamalca, while their
minds were yet warm with admiration and de-
sire of the wealth which they had beheld, they
gave such a description of it to their country-
men, as confirmed Pizarro in a resolution which
he had already taken. From his own obser-
vation of American manners during his long
service in the New World, as well as from the
advantages which Cortes had derived from
seizing Montezuma, he knew of what eon-
sequence it was to have the Inca in his power.
For this purpose, he formed a plan as daring
as it was perfidious. Notwithstanding the
character that he had assumed of an ambas-
sador from a powerful monarch, who courted

HISTORY OF AMERICA* 139

an alliance with the Inca, and in violation of B o o K
the repeated offers which he had made to him y v^ ,
of his own friendship and assistance, he deter- 1532.
mined to avail himself of the unsuspicious sim-
plicity with which Atahualpa relied on his pro-
fessions, and to seize the person of the Inca
during the interview to which he had invited
him. He prepared for the execution of his
scheme with the same deliberate arrangement,
and with as little compunction, as if it had
reflected no disgrace on himself or his country.
He divided his cavalry into three small squad-
rons, under the command of his brother Fer-
dinand, Soto, and Benalcazar; his infantry
were formed in one body, except twenty of
most tried courage, whom he kept near his own
person to support him in the dangerous service
which he reserved for himself; the artillery,
consisting of two field-pieces1, and the cross-
bowmen, were placed opposite to the avenue
by which Atahualpa was to approach. All were
commanded to keep within the square, and not
to move until the signal for action was given.

EARLY in the morning the Peruvian camp NOV.
was all in motion. But as Atahualpa was
solicitous to appear with the greatest splendour
and magnificence in his first interview with

* Xerez, p. 194-.

140

HISTORY OF AMERICA,

1552.

BOOK the strangers, the preparations for this were
VL , so tedious, that the day was far advanced
before he began his march. Even then, lest
the order of the procession should be deranged,
he moved so slowly, that the Spaniards became
impatient, and apprehensive that some suspi-
cion of their intention might be the cause of
this delay. In order to remove this, Pizarro
dispatched one of his officers with fresh as-
surances of his friendly disposition. At length
the Inca approached. First of all appeared
four hundred men, in an uniform dress, as
harbingers to clear the way before him. He
himself, sitting on a throne or couch adorned
with plumes of various colours, and almost
covered with plates of gold and silver enriched
with precious stones, was carried on the
shoulders of his principal attendants. Behind
him came some chief officers of his court,
carried in the same manner. Several bands of
singers and dancers accompanied this cavalcade;
and the whole plain was covered with troops,
amounting to more than thirty thousand men.

Strange
harangue
of Father
Valverde.

As the Inca drew near the Spanish quarters,
Father Vincent Valverde, chaplain to the expe-
dition, advanced with a crucifix in one hand,
and a breviary in the other, and in a long
discourse explained to him the doctrine of the
creation, the fall of Adam, the incarnation, the
13

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 141

sufferings and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the BOOK
appointment of St. Peter as God's vicegerent . _Jl ,
on earth, the transmission of his apostolic power 1532-
by succession to the Popes, the donation made
to the King of Castile by Pope Alexander of
all the regions of the New World. In conse-
quence of all this, he required Atahualpa to
embrace the Christian faith, to acknowledge
the supreme jurisdiction of the Pope, and to
submit to the King of Castile as his lawful so-
vereign ; promising, if he complied instantly
with this requisition, that the Castilian mo-
narch would protect his dominions, and per-
mit him to continue in the exercise of his
royal authority ; but if he should impiously
refuse to obey this summons, he denounced
war against him in his master's name, and
threatened him with the most dreadful effects
of his vengeance.

THIS strange harangue, unfolding deep mys- Reply of

> TUT t o *T V • i the Inca,

tenes, and alluding to unknown facts, of which
no power of eloquence could have conveyed at
once a distinct idea to an American, was so
lamely translated by an unskilful interpreter,
little acquainted with the idiom of the Spanish
tongue, and incapable of expressing himself
with propriety in the language of the Inca,
that its general tenour was altogether incom-

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK prehensible to Atahualpa. Some parts in it,
of more obvious meaning, filled him with asto-
nishment and indignation. His reply, how-
ever, was temperate. He began with ob-
serving, that he was lord of the dominions
over which he reigned by hereditary succes-
sion ; and added, that he could not conceive
how a foreign priest should pretend to dispose
of territories which did not belong to him ;
that if such a preposterous grant had been
made, he, who was the rightful possessor, re-
fused to confirm it ; that he had no inclination
to renounce the religious institutions estab-
lished by his ancestors ; nor would he forsake
the service of the Sun, the immortal divinity
whom he and his people revered, in order to
worship the God of the Spaniards, who was
subject to death ; that with respect to other
matters contained in his discourse, as he had
never heard of them before, and did not now
understand their meaning, he desired to know
where the priest had learned things so extra-
ordinary. " In this book," answered Valverde,
reaching out to him his breviary. The Inca
opened it eagerly, and turning over the leaves,
lifted it to his ear : " This," says he, " is
silent ; it tells me nothing ;" and threw it
with disdain to the ground. The enraged
monk, running towards his countrymen, cried

JO

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 143

out, " To arms, Christians, to arms ; the word BOOK
of God is insulted ; avenge this profanation on
those impious dogs/

>?b 1552.

PIZARRO, who, during this long conference, Pizarro

. i -..fn . -ii' 11- attacks the

had with difficulty restrained his soldiers, eager Peruvians,
to seize the rich spoils of which they had now
so near a view, immediately gave the signal of
assault. At once the martial music struck up,
the cannon and muskets began to iire, the
horse sallied out fiercely to the charge, the
infantry rushed on sword in hand. The Pe-
ruvians, astonished at the suddenness of an
attack which they did not expect, and dis-
mayed with the destructive effect of the fire-
arms, and the irresistible impression of the
cavalry, fled with universal consternation on
every side, without attempting either to annoy
the enemy, or to defend themselves. Pizarro,
at the head of his .chosen band, advanced
directly towards the Inca; and though his
nobles crowded around him with officious
zeal, and fell in numbers at his feet, while
they vied one with another in sacrificing their
own lives, that they might cover the sacred
person of their sovereign, the Spaniards soon
penetrated to the royal seat ; and Pizarro, and seizes
seizing the Tnca by the arm, dragged him to *

b See NOTE XV.

144 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK the ground, and carried him as a prisoner to
L VI!_. his quarters. The fate of the monarch in-
15.52. creased the precipitate flight of his followers.
The Spaniards pursued them towards every
quarter, and with deliberate and unrelenting
barbarity continued to slaughter wretched fu-
gitives, who never once offered to resist.
The carnage did not cease until the close of day.
Above four thousand Peruvians were killed.
Not a single Spaniard fell, nor was one
wounded but Pizarro himself, whose hand was
slightly hurt by one of his own soldiers, while
struggling eagerly to lay hold on the Inca.c

THE plunder of the field was rich beyond
any idea which the Spaniards had yet formed
concerning the wealth of Peru, and they were
so transported with the value of the acquisi-
tion, as well as the greatness of their success,
that they passed the night in the extravagant
exultation natural to indigent adventurers on
such an extraordinary change of fortune.

Dejection AT first the captive monarch could hardly
believe a calamity which he so little expected
to be real. But he soon felt all the misery of his
fate, and the dejection into which he sunk was
in proportion to the height of grandeur from

c Sec NOTE XVI.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 145

which he had fallen. Pizarro, afraid of losing BOOK
all the advantages which he hoped to derive
from the possession of such a prisoner, la-
boured to console him with professions of
kindness and respect, that corresponded ill
with his actions. By residing among the Spa-
niards, the Inca quickly discovered their rul-
ing passion, which, indeed thay were no wise
solicitous to conceal, and by applying to that,
made an attempt to recover his liberty. He His

offered as a ransom what astonished the Spa- J^
niards, even after all they now knew concern-
ing the opulence of his kingdom. The apart-
ment in which he was confined was twenty-
two feet in length and sixteen in breadth ; he
undertook to fill it with vessels of gold as
high as he could reach. Pizarro closed eagerly
with this tempting proposal, arid a line was
drawn upon the walls of the chamber, to
mark the stipulated height to which the trea-
sure was to rise.

ATAHUALPA, transported with having ob-
tained some prospect of liberty, took measures
instantly for fulfilling his part of the agree-
ment, by sending messengers to Cuzco, Quito,
and other places, where gold had been amass-
ed in largest quantities, either for adorning
the temples of the gods, or the houses of the
Inca, to bring what was necessary for complet-

III. L

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK ing his ransom directly to Caxamalca. Though
L -T_.__J Atahualpa wras now in the custody of his ene-
1532. mies, yet so much were the Peruvians accus-
tomed to respect every mandate issued by their
sovereign, that his orders were executed with
the greatest alacrity. Soothed with hopes of
recovering his liberty by this means, the sub-
jects of the Inca were afraid of endangering
his life by forming any other scheme for his
relief; and though the force of the empire
was still entire, no preparations were made,
and no army assembled to avenge their own
wrongs or those of their monarch. d The Spa-
niards remained in Caxamalca tranquil and
The Spa- unmolested. Small detachments of their num*
cUflbrent*1* ^er niarched into remote provinces of the
provinces, empire, and, instead of meeting with any op-
position, were every where received with
marks of the most submissive respect.6

INCONSIDERABLE as those parties were, and
desirous as Pizarro might be to obtain some
knowledge of the interior state of the country,
he could not have ventured upon any diminu-
Dcccmber. tion of his main body, if he had not about this
time received an account of Almagro's having
landed at St. Michael with such a reinforce-
ment as would almost double the number of

d Xerez, 205. 'e See NOTE XVII.

raentCG

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 147

his followers. f The arrival of this long-ex- BOOK

VI

pected succour was not more agreeable to the v __— T-. _*
Spaniards than alarming to the Inca. He saw l532'
the power of his enemies increase ; and as he
knew neither the source whence they derived
their supplies, nor the means by which they
were conveyed to Peru, he could not foresee
to what a height the inundation that poured
in upon his dominions might rise. While dis-

quieted with such apprehensions, he learned put to
that some Spaniards, in their way to Cuzco,
had visited his brother Huascar in the place
where he kept him confined, and that the cap-
tive prince had represented to them the justice
of his own cause, and as an inducement to
espouse it, had promised them a quantity of
treasure greatly beyond that which Atahualpa
had engaged to pay for his ransom. If the
Spaniards should listen to this proposal, Ata-
hualpa perceived his own destruction to be in-
evitable ; and suspecting that their insatiable
thirst for gold would tempt them to lend a fa-
vourable ear to it, he determined to sacrifice
his brother's life, that he might save his own ;
and his orders for this purpose were executed,
like all his other commands, with scrupulous
punctuality/

f Xerez, 204. Herrera, dec. 5. lib. iii. c. 1,2.
e Zarate,"lib.ii. c. 6- Gornara Hist. c. 1 15. Herrera,
dec. 5. lib. iii. c. 2.

L 2

148 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK MEANWHILE, Indians daily arrived at Caxa-
i_ VI1 j jnalca from different parts of the kingdom,
1533. loaded with treasure. A great part of the sti-
The Span- pulated quantity was now amassed, and Ata-
hualPa assured the Spaniards that the only thing

of the which prevented the whole from being brought
in, was the remoteness of the provinces where
it was deposited. But such vast piles of gold
presented continually to the view of needy
soldiers, had so inflamed their avarice, that it
was impossible any longer to restrain their im-
patience to obtain possession of this rich booty.
Orders were given for melting down the whole,
except some pieces of curious fabric, reserved
as a present for the Emperor. After setting
apart the fifth due to the crown, and a hundred
thousand pesos as a donative to the soldiers
"which arrived with Almagro, there remained
one million five hundred and twenty-eight
thousand five hundred pesos to Pizarro and

July 25. his followers. The festival of St.. James, the
patron saint of Spain, was the day chosen
for the partition of this enormous sum, and
the manner of conducting it strongly marks
the strange alliance of fanaticism with ava-
rice, which I have more than once had oc-
casion to point out as a striking feature in
the character of the conquerors of the New
World. Though assembled to divide the spoils
of an innocent people, procured by deceit,
; 13

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 149

extortion, and cruelty, the transaction began BOOK
with a solemn invocation of the name of ,
Godh, as if they could have expected the
guidance of Heaven in distributing those
wages of iniquity. In this division above eight
thousand pesos, at that time not inferior in
effective value to as many pounds sterling in
the present century, fell to the share of each
horseman, and half that sum to each foot sol-
dier. Pizarro himself and his officers, re-
ceived dividends in proportion to the dignity
of their rank.

THERE is no example in history of such The effect
a sudden acquisition of wealth by military ser-
vice, nor was ever a sum so great divided
among so small a number of soldiers. Many
of them having received a recompense for
their services far beyond their most sanguine
hopes, were so impatient to retire from fa-
tigue and danger, in order to spend the re-
mainder of their days in their native country
in ease and opulence, that they demanded
their discharge with clamorous importunity.
Pizarro, sensible that from such men he could
expect neither enterprise in action nor forti-
tude in suffering, and persuaded that where-
ever they went the display of their riches,

h Herrera, dec. 5. lib. iii. c. 3.
L 3

150 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK would allure adventurers, less opulent, but
VL^ more hardy, to his standard, granted their
1533. suit without reluctance, and permitted above
sixty of them to accompany his brother Fer-
dinand, whom he sent to Spain with an ac-
count of his success, and the present destined
for the Emperor.1

The inca THE Spaniards having divided among them
hfsTberty the treasure amassed for the Inca's ransom, he
in vam. insisted with them to fulfil their promise of
setting him at liberty* But nothing was far-
ther from Pizarro's thoughts. During his
long service in the New World, he had imbibed
those ideas and maxims of his fellow-soldiers,
which led them to consider its inhabitants as
an inferior race, neither worthy of the name,
nor entitled to the rights, of men. In his com-
pact with Atahualpa, he had no other object
than to amuse his captive with such a prospect
of recovering his liberty, as might induce him
to lend all the aid of his authority towards
collecting the wealth of his kingdom. Having
now accomplished this, he no longer regarded
his plighted faith ; and at the very time when
the credulous Prince hoped to be replaced on
his throne*, he had secretly resolved to bereave
him of life* Many circumstances seem to have
concurred in prompting him to this action,

» Herrera, dec. 5. lib. iii. c. 4. Vega, p. 2. lib. i. c. 38.

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

the most criminal and atrocious that stains the BOOK
Spanish name, amidst all the deeds of violence VL ^
committed in carrying on the conquests of the 1533.
New World.

THOUGH Pizarro had seized the Inca, in He and
imitation of Cortes's conduct towards the
Mexican monarch, he did not possess talents
for carrying on the same artful plan of policy.
Destitute of the temper and address requisite
for gaining the confidence of his prisoner, he
never reaped all the advantages which might
have been derived from being master of his
person and authority. Atahualpa was, indeed*
a prince of greater abilities and discernment
than Montezuma, and seems to have pene-
trated more thoroughly into the character and
intentions of the Spaniards* Mutual suspi-
cion and distrust accordingly took place be-
tween them. The strict attention with which
it was necessary to guard a captive of such
importance, greatly increased the fatigue of
military duty. The utility of keeping him
appeared inconsiderable ; and Pizarro felt him
as an incumbranee, from which he wished to
be delivered/

ALMAGBO and his followers had made a de-

and his

mand of an equal share in the Inca's ransom j followers

demand

* Herrera, dec. 5. lib. in. c. 4. his life-

L 4

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK and though Pizarro had bestowed upon the
v VL private men the large gratuity which I have
1553. mentioned, and endeavoured to soothe their
leader by presents of great value, they still
continued dissatisfied. They were apprehen-
sive, that as long as Atahualpa remained a
prisoner, Pizarro's soldiers would apply what-
ever treasure should be acquired, to make up
what was wanting of the quantity stipulated
for his ranson, and under that pretext exclude
them from any part of it. They insisted
eagerly on putting the Inca to death, that all
the adventurers in Peru might thereafter be
on an equal footing. l

Motives PIZARRO himself began to be alarmed with
accounts offerees assembling in the remote

consent, provinces of the empire, and suspected Ata-
hualpa of having issued orders for that pur-
pose. These fears and suspicions were art-
fully increased by Philippillo, one of the
Indians, whom Pizarro had carried off from
Tumbez in the year one thousand five hundred
and twenty-seven, and whom he employed as
an interpreter. The function which he per-
formed admitting this man to familiar in-
tercourse with the captive monarch, he pre-
sumed, notwithstanding the meanness of his

1 Zarate, lib. ii. c. 7. Vega, p. 2. lib. i. c. 7. Herrera,
dec. 5. lib. iii. c. 4-.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 153

birth, to raise his affections to a Coya, or B o o K
descendant of the Sun, one of Atahualpa's L_ Vl^
wives ; and seeing no prospect of gratifying 1533.
that passion during the life of the monarch, he
endeavoured to fill the ears of the Spaniards
with such accounts of the Inca's secret designs
and preparations, as might awaken their jea-
lousy, and incite them to cut him off.

WHILE Almagro and his followers openly
demanded the life of the Inca, and Philippillo
laboured to ruin him by private machinations,
that unhappy prince inadvertently contributed
to hasten his own fate. During his confine-
ment he had attached himself with peculiar
affection to Ferdinand Pizarro and Hernando
Soto ; who, as they were persons of birth and
education superior to the rough adventurers
with whom they served, were accustomed to
behave with more decency and attention to
the captive monarch. Soothed with this re-
spect from persons of such high rank, he de-
lighted in their society. But in the presence
of the governor he was always uneasy and
overawed. This dread soon came to be mingled
with contempt. Among all the European arts,
what he admired most was that of reading and
writmg ; and he long deliberated with himself,
whether he should regard it as a natural or
acquired talent. In order to determine this,

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

B o o K he desired one of the soldiers, who guarded
^_ VL , him, to write the name of God on the nail of
• 1553. his thumb. This he showed successively to
several Spaniards, asking its meaning ; and to
his amazement, they all, without hesitation,
returned the same answer. At length Pizarro
entered ; and, on presenting it to him, he
blushed, and with some confusion was obliged
to acknowledge his ignorance. From that
moment Atahualpa considered him as a mean
person, less instructed than his own soldiers ;
and he had not address enough to conceal the
sentiments with which this discovery inspired
him. To be the object of a barbarian's scorn,
not only mortified the pride of Pizarro, but ex-
cited such resentment in his breast, as added
force to all the other considerations which
prompted him to put the Inca to death.111

His trial. BUT in order to give some colour of justice
to this violent action, and that he himself
might be exempted from standing singly re-
sponsible for the commission of it, Pizarro re-
solved to try the Inca with all the formalities
observed in the criminal courts of Spain. Pi-
zarro himself, and Almagro, with two assistants,
were appointed judges, with full power to ac-
quit or to condemn -, an attorney-general was

m Herrera, dec, 5. lib, iii. c.4-. Vega, p. 11. lib. i. c. 38.

i

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 155

named to carry on the prosecution in the B 0 o K
king's name ; counsellors were chosen to ^
assist the prisoner in his defence ; and clerks
were ordained to record the proceedings of
court. Before this strange tribunal, a charge
was exhibited still more amazing. It consisted
of various articles ; that Atahualpa, though a
bastard, had dispossessed the rightful owner of
the throne, and usurped the regal power ; that
he had put his brother and lawful sovereign to
death ; that he was an idolater, and had not
only permitted, but commanded the offering
of human sacrifices ; that he had a great num-
ber of concubines j that since his imprison-
ment he had wasted and embezzled the royal
treasures, which now belonged of right to the
conquerors ; that he had incited his subjects
to take arms against the Spaniards. On these
heads of accusation, some of which are so ludi-
crous, others so absurd, that the effrontery of
Pizarro, in making them the foundation of a
serious procedure, is not less surprising than,
his injustice, did this strange court go on to
try the sovereign of a great empire, over whom
it had no jurisdiction. With respect to each
of the articles, witnesses were examined ; but
as they delivered their evidence in their na-
tive tongue, Philippillo had it in his power to
give their words whatever turn best suited his

156 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK malevolent intentions. To judges predeter-

^_ ^ mined in their opinion, this evidence appeared

i53o. sufficient. They pronounced Atahualpa guilty,

He is con- ,. *

demned, and condemned him to be burnt alive. Friar
Valverde prostituted the authority of his sa-
cred function to confirm this sentence, and by
his signature warranted it to be just. Asto-
nished at his fate, Atahualpa endeavoured to
avert it by tears, by promises, and by entrea-
ties, that he might be sent to Spain, where a
monarch would be the arbiter of his lot. But
pity never touched the unfeeling heart of Pi-
zarro. He ordered him to be led instantly to
execution ; and, what added to the bitterness
of his last moments, the same monk who had
just ratified his doom, offered to console, and
attempted to convert him. The most power-
ful argument Valverde employed to prevail
with him to embrace the Christian faith, was
a promise of mitigation in his punishment.
The dread of a cruel death extorted from the
trembling victim a desire of receiving baptism.
The ceremony was performed ; and Atahu-

and exe- alpa, instead of being burnt, was strangled at

cuted- the stake.0

n Zarate, lib. ii. c. 7. Xerez, p. 233. Vega, p. 11.
lib. i. c. 36, 37. Gomara Hist. c. 117. Herrera, dec. 3,
lib. iii. c. 4-.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 15y

HAPPILY far the credit of the Spanish na- BOOK
tion, even among the profligate adventurers v VI^ _,
which it sent forth to conquer and desolate 1535.
the New World, there were persons who re- Spaniards
tained some tincture of the Castilian genero-
sity and honour. Though, before the trial of
Atahualpa, Ferdinand Pizarro had set out for
Spain, and Soto was sent on a separate com-
mand at a distance from Caxamalca, thi£
odious transaction was not carried on without
censure and opposition. Several officers, and
among those some of the greatest reputation
and most respectable families in the service,
not only remonstrated, but protested against
this measure of their general, as disgraceful
to their country, as repugnant to every maxim
of equity, as a violation of public faith, and
an usurpation of jurisdiction over an inde-
pendent monarch, to which they had no title.
But their laudable endeavotirs were vain.
Numbers, and the opinion of such as held
every thing to be lawful which they deemed
advantageous, prevailed. History, however,
records even the unsuccessful exertions of
rirtue with applause ; and the Spanish writers,
in relating events wiiere the valour of their
nation is more conspicuous than its humanity,
have not failed to preserve the names of those
who made this laudable effort to save their

158 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK country from the infamy of having perpetrated
such a crime.0

1535.

ON the death of Atahualpa, Pizarro in-
vested one of his sons with the ensigns of
in PeruCr roya^v' Doping that a young man without
experience might prove a more passive in-
strument in his hands than an ambitious
monarch, who had been accustomed to inde-
pendent command. The people of Cuzco,
and 'the adjacent country, acknowledged
Manco Capac, a brother of Huascar, as Inca. p
But neither possessed the authority which be-
longed to a sovereign of Peru. The violent
convulsions into which the empire had been
thrown, first by the civil war between the two
brothers, and then by the invasion of the Spa-
niards, had not only deranged the order of
the Peruvian government, but almost dissolved
its frame. When they beheld their monarch
a captive in the power of strangers, and at last
suffering an ignominious death, the people in
several provinces* as if they had been set free
from every restraint of law and decency, broke
out into the most licentious excesses.*1 So

0 Vega, p. 11. lib. i. c. 37. Xerez, i. 235. Hcrrera,
dec. 5. lib. iii. c. 5.

P Vega, p. 11. lib. ii. c. 7.

q Herrera, dec. 5. lib. ii. c. 12- lib. iii. c. 5.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 159

ttiany descendants of the Sun, after being BOOK
treated with the utmost indignity, had been cut VL J
off by Atahualpa, that not only their influ- 1533.
ence in the state diminished with their number,
but the accustomed reverence for that sacred
race sensibly decreased. In consequence of
this state of things, ambitious men in different
parts of the empire aspired to independent
authority, and usurped jurisdiction to which
they had no title. The general who com-
manded for Atahualpa in Quito, seized the
brother and children of his master, put them
to a cruel death, and disclaiming any connec-
tion with either Inca, endeavoured to establish
a separate kingdom for himself. r

THE Spaniards, with pleasure, beheld the pizam>
spirit of discord diffusing itself, and the vigour
of government relaxing among the Peruvians.
They considered those disorders as symptoms
of a state hastening towards its dissolution.
Pizarro no longer hesitated to advance towards
Cuzco, and he had received such considerable
reinforcements, that he could venture, with
little danger, to penetrate so far into the in-
terior part of the country. The account of
the wealth acquired at Caxamalca operated as
he had foreseen. No sooner did his brother

r Zarate, lib. ii. c. 8. Vega, p. 11. lib. ii. c, 3, 4-.

160 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK Ferdinand, with the officers and soldiers to
VI. whom he had given their discharge after the
partition of the Inca's ransom, arrive at Pa-
nama, and display their riches in the view of
their astonished countrymen, than fame spread
the account with such exaggeration through
all the Spanish settlements on the South Sea,
that the governors of Guatimala, Panama,
and Nicaragua, could hardly restrain the
people under their jurisdiction, from abandon-
ing their possessions, and crowding to that in-
exhaustible source of wealth which seemed to
be opened in Peru. s In spite of every check
and regulation, such numbers resorted thither,
that Pizarrb began his march at the head of
five hundred men, after leaving a considerable
garrison in St. Michael, under the command
of Benalcazar. The Peruvians had assembled
some large bodies of troops to oppose his pro-
gress. Several fierce encounters happened.
But they terminated like all the actions in
America; a few Spaniards were killed ox-
wounded; the natives were put to flight
with incredible slaughter. At length Pi-
zarro forced his way to Cuzco, and took
quiet possession of that capital. The riches
found there, even after all that the natives
had carried off and concealed, either from a

8 Gomara Hist. c. 125. Vega, p. 11. lib. |i. c. 1,
Herrera, dec. 5. lib. iii. c. 5.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 161

superstitious veneration for the ornaments of B o o K
their temples, or out of hatred to their rapa- VL
clous conquerors, exceed in value what had
been received as Atahualpa's ransom. But as
the Spaniards were now accustomed to the
wealth of the country, and it came to be par-
celled out among a great number of adven-
turers, this dividend did not excite the same
surprise, either from novelty, or the largeness
of the sum that fell to the share of each indi-
vidual. *

DURING the march to Cuzco, that son of
Atahualpa whom Pizarro treated as Inca,
died; and as the Spaniards substituted no
person in his place, the title of Manco Capac
seems to have been universally recognised."

WHILE his fellow-soldiers were thus em- Quito con.
ployed, Benalcazar, governor of St. Michael,

an able and enterprising officer, was ashamed cazar*
of remaining in active, and impatient to have
his name distinguished among the discoverers
and conquerors of the New World. The sea-
sonable arrival of a fresh body of recruits from
Panama and Nicaragua, put it in his power to
gratify this passion. Leaving a sufficient force
to protect the infant settlement intrusted to

e See NOTE XVIJI. » Herrcra, dec. 5. lib. v. c. 2,
VOL. 111. M

1-62 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK his care, he placed himself at the head of the
^ rest and set out to attempt the reduction of
1555. Quito, where, according to the report of the
natives, Atahualpa had left the greatest part
of his treasure. Notwithstanding the distance
of that city from St. Michael, the difficulty of
marching through a mountainous country co-
vered with woods, and the frequent and fierce
attacks of the best troops in Peru, commanded
by a skilful leader, the valour, good conduct,
and perseverance of Benalcazar surmounted
every obstacle, and he entered Quito with his
victorious troops. But they met with a cruel
mortification there. The natives, now ac-
quainted to their sorrow with the predominant
passion of their invaders, and knowing how to
disappoint it, had carried off all those trea-
sures, the prospect of which had prompted
them to undertake this arduous expedition,
and had supported them under all the dangers
and hardships wherewith they had to struggle
in carrying it on.w

Aivarado's BENALCAZAR was not the only Spanish leader

dition. wno attacked the kingdom of Quito. The

fame of its riches attracted a more powerful

enemy. Pedro de Alvarado, who had dis-

w Zarate, lib. ii. c. 9. Vega, p. 11. lib. ii. c. 9. Her-
rera, dec. 5. lib. iv. c. 11, 12. lib. v. c, 2, 3. lib. vi. c. 3.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 163

tinguished himself so eminently in the con- BOOK
quest of Mexico, having obtained the govern- VI
ment of Guatimala as a recompense for his
valour, soon became disgusted with a life of
uniform tranquillity, and. longed to be again
engaged in the bustle of military service. The
glory and wealth acquired by the conquerors
of Peru heightened this passion, and gave it a
determined direction. Believing, or pretend-
ing to believe, that the kingdom of Quito did
not lie within the limits of the province allotted
to Pizarro, he resolved to invade it. The
high reputation of the commander allured
volunteers from every quarter. He imbarked
with five hundred men, of whom above two
hundred were of such distinction as to serve
on horseback. He landed at Puerto Viejo,
and without sufficient knowledge of the coun-
try, or proper guides to conduct him, attempted
to march directly to Quito, by following the
course of the river Guayquil, and crossing the
ridge of the Andes towards its head. But in
this route, one of the most impracticable in all
America, his troops endured such fatigue in
forcing their way through forests and marshes
on the low grounds, and suffered so much
from excessive cold when they began to ascend
the mountains, that before they reached the
plain of Quito, a fifth part of the men and

M %

164 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK half their horses died, and the rest were so

VI

I_-T— ; much dispirited and worn out, as to be almost
1555. unfft for Service.x There they met with a
body not of Indians but of Spaniards, drawn
in hostile array against them. Pizarro having
received an account of Alvarado' s armament,
had detached Almagro with some troops to
oppose this formidable invader of his jurisdic-
tion ; and these were joined by Benalcazar
and his victorious party. Alvarado, though
surprised at the sight of enemies whom he did
not expect, advanced boldly to the charge.
But, by the interposition of some moderate
men in each party, an amicable accommoda-
tion took place ; and the fatal period, when
Spaniards suspended their conquests to imbrue
their hands in the blood of their countrymen,
was postponed a few years. Alvarado engaged
to return to his government, upon Almagro's
paying him a hundred thousand pesos to de-
fray the expense of his armament. Most of
his followers remained in the country ; and an
expedition, which threatened Pizarro and his
colony with ruin, contributed to augment its
strength.7

* See NOTE XIX.

* Zarate, lib. ii. c. 10—43. Vega, p. 1 1. lib. ii. c. 1, 2.
9, &c. Gomara Hist. c. 126, &c. Remesal Hist. Guati-
mal. lib. iii. c. 6. Herrera, dec. 5. lib. vi. c. 1, 2. 7, 8.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 165

BY this time Ferdinand Pizarro had landed BOOK
in Spain. The immense quantities of gold and
silver which he imported2 , filled the kingdom

. Honours

with no less astonishment than they had excited conferred
in Panama and the adjacent provinces. Pi- ™d
zarro was received by the Emperor with the gro'
attention due to the bearer of a present so rich,
as to exceed any idea which the Spaniards had
formed concerning the value of their acqui-
sitions in America, even after they had been
ten years masters of Mexico. In recompense
of his brother's services, his authority was con-
firmed with new powers and privileges, and
the addition of seventy leagues, extending
along the coast, to the southward of the terri-
tory granted in his former patent. Almagro re-
ceived thehonours which he had so long desired.
The title of adelantado, or governor, was con-
ferred upon him, with jurisdiction over two
hundred leagues of country, stretching beyond
the southern limits of the province allotted to
Pizarro. Ferdinand himself did not go unre-
warded. He was admitted into the military order
of St. Jago, a distinction always acceptable to a
Spanish gentleman, and soon set o'ut on his return
toPeru, accompanied by many persons of higher
rank than had yet served in that country.*

z See NOTE XX.

a Zarate, lib. Hi. c. 3. Vega, p. 1 1 . lib. ii. c. 19. Her-
rera. dec. 5. lib. vi. c. 13.

M 3

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

SOME account of his negotiations reached
Peru before he arrived there himself. Alma-
1554. gro no sooner learned that he had obtained the

Beginning

ofdissen- royal grant of an independent government,
i- than pretending that Cuzco, the imperial re-
s^ence °f,the Incas, lay within its boundaries,
he attempted to render himself master of that
important station. Juan and Gonzalez Pizarro
prepared to oppose him. Each of the contend-
ing parties was supported by powerful adhe-
rents, and the dispute was on the point of be-
ing terminated by the sword, when Francis Pi-
zarro arrived in the capital. The reconciliation
between him and Almagro had never been
cordial. The treachery of Pizarro in engrossing
to himself all the honours and emoluments,
which ought to have been divided with his
associate, was always present in both their
thoughts. The former, conscious of his own
perfidy, did not expect forgiveness ; the latter,
feeling that he had been deceived, was impa-
tient to be avenged ; and though avarice and
ambition had induced them not only to dissem-
ble their sentiments, but even to act in concert
while in pursuit of wealth and power, no sooner
did they obtain possession of these, than the
same passions which had formed this temporary
union, gave rise to jealousy and discord. To
each of them was attached a small band of in-
terested dependants, who, with the malicious

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 167

art peculiar to such men, heightened their sus- BOOK
picions, and magnified every appearance of v
offence. But with all those seeds of enmity in 1554,
their minds, and thus assiduously cherished,
each was so thoroughly acquainted with the
abilities and courage of his rival, that they
equally dreaded the consequences of an open
rupture. The fortunate arrival of Pizarro at
Cuzco, and the address mingled with firmness
which he manifested in his expostulations with
Almagro and his partisans, averted that evil
for the present. A new reconciliation took
place; the chief article of which was, that Al-
magro should attempt the conquest of Chili ;
and if he did not find in that province an esta-
blishment adequate to his merit and expecta-
tions, Pizarro, byway of indemnification, should
yield up to him a part of Peru. This new June 12.
agreement, though confirmed with the same
sacred solemnities as their first contract, was
observed with as little fidelity.1* '

SOON after he concluded this important trans- Jieguia-
action, Pizarro marched back to the countries
on the sea-coast, and as he now enjoyed an in-
terval of tranquillity undisturbed by any enemy,
either Spanish or Indian, he applied himself with
that persevering ardour, which distinguishes his

b Zarate, lib.ii. c. 13. Vega, p. 11. lib. ii. c. 19. Benzo,
lib. Ui. c. 6. Herrera, dec. 5. lib. vii. c.8,

M 4

168 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

B o o it his character, to introduce a form of regular
government into the extensive provinces subject
to his authority. Though ill qualified by his edu-
cation to enter into any disquisition concerning
the principles of civil policy, and little accus*
tomed by his former habits of life to attend to
its arrangements, his natural sagacity supplied
the want both of science and experience. He
distributed the country into various districts ;
he appointed proper magistrates to preside in
each ; and established regulations concerning
the administration of justice, the collection of
the royal revenue, the working of the mines,
and the treatment of the Indians, extremely
simple, but well calculated to promote the
public prosperity. But, though, for the present,
he adapted his plan to the infant state of his
colony, his aspiring mind looked forward to its
Founda- future grandeur. He considered himself as
Lima. laying the foundation of a great empire, and
deliberated long, and with much solicitude, in
what place he should fix the seat of govern-
ment. Cuzco, the imperial city of the Incas,
was situated in a corner of the empire, above
four hundred miles from the sea, and much
farther from Quito, a province of whose value
he had formed an high idea. No other settle-
ment of the Peruvians was so considerable as
to merit the name of a town, or to allure Jthe
Spaniards to fix their residence in it. But

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 169

in marching through the country, Pizarro BOOK
had been struck with the beauty and fertility
of the valley of Rimac, one of the most exten-
sive and best cultivated in Peru. There, on
the banks of a small river, of the same name
with the vale which it waters and enriches,
at the distance of six miles from Callao, the
most commodious harbour in the Pacific ocean,
he founded a city which he destined to be the
capital of his government. He gave it the 1535t
name of Ciudad de los Reyes, either from the
circumstance of having laid the first stone, at
that season when the church celebrates the
festival of the Three Kings, or, as is more
probable, in honour of Juana and Charles, the
joint sovereigns of Castile. This name it still
retains among the Spaniards in all legal and
formal deeds ; but it is better known to fo-
reigners by that of Lima, a corruption of the
ancient appellation of the valley in which it is
situated. Under his inspection, the buildings
advanced with such rapidity, that it soon as-
sumed the form of a city, which, by a magnifi-
cent palace that he erected for himself, and by
the stately houses built by several of his offi-
cers, gave, even in its infancy, some indication
of its subsequent grandeur/

e Herrera, dec. 5. lib. vi. c. 12. lib. vii. c. 13. Calancho,
Coronica, lib.i. c.37. Barneuvo, Lima fimdata, ir. 294;.

370 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK IN consequence of what had been agreed

VL ^ w^ Pizarro> Alm-agro began his march towards

1535. Chili ; and as he possessed in an eminent degree

invades the virtues most admired by soldiers, boundless
liberality and fearless courage, his standard was
followed by five hundred and seventy men, the
greatest body of Europeans that had hitherto
been assembled in Peru. From impatience to
finish the expedition, or from that contempt of
hardship and danger acquired by all the Spa-
niards who had served long in America, Al-
magro, instead of advancing along the level
country on the coast, chose to march across the
mountains by a route that was shorter indeed,
but almost impracticable. In this attempt his
troops were exposed to every calamity which
men can suffer, from fatigue, from famine, and
from the rigour of the climate in those ele-
vated regions of the torrid zone, where the
degree of cold is hardly inferior to what is felt
within the polar circle. Many of them pe-
rished; and the survivors, when they descended
into the fertile plains of Chili, had new diffi-
culties to encounter. They found there a race
of men very different from the people of Peru,
intrepid, hardy, independent, and in their
bodily constitution, as well as vigour of spirit,
nearly resembling the warlike tribes in* North
America. Though filled with wonder at the
first appearance of the Spaniards, and still

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

more astonished at the operations of their BOOK
cavalry and the effects of their fire-arms, the v VL _,
Chilese soon recovered so far from their sur- 1535.
pri^e, as not only to defend themselves with
obstinacy, but to attack their new enemies
with more determined fierceness than any
American nation had hitherto discovered. The
Spaniards, however, continued to penetrate
into the country, and collected some conside-
rable quantities of gold ; but were so far from
thinking of making any settlement amidst such
formidable neighbours, that, in spite of all the
experience and valour of their leader, the final
issue of the expedition still remained extremely
dubious, when they were recalled from it by
an unexpected revolution atPeru.d The causes
of this important event I shall endeavour to
trace to their source.

So many adventurers had flocked to Peru An j
from every Spanish colony in America, and all theP°eru-°
with such high expectations of accumulating v
independent fortunes at once, that, to men pos-
sessed with notions so extravagant, any mention
of acquiring wealth gradually, and by schemes
of patient industry, would have been not only
a disappointment, but an insult. In order to

• .*•"».

d Zarate, lib. iii. c. 1. Gomara Hist. c. 131. Vega,
p. 2. lib. ii. c. 20. Ovale Hist, de Chile, lib. iv. c. 15, &c.
Herrera, dec. 5. lib. vi. c. 9. Kb. x. c. 1, &e.

172 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK find occupation for men who could not with
^_ safety be allowed to remain inactive, Pizarro

1535. encouraged some of the most distinguished
officers who had lately joined him, to invade
different provinces of the empire, which the
Spaniards had not hitherto visited. Several
large bodies were formed for this purpose ; and
about the time that Almagro set out for Chili,
they marched into remote districts of the
its rise, country. No sooner did Manco Capac, the
Inca, observe the inconsiderate security of the
Spaniards in thus dispersing their troops, and
' that only a handful of soldiers remained in
Cuzco, under Juan and Gonzalez Pizarro,
than he thought that the happy period was
at length come for vindicating his own rights,
for avenging the wrongs of his country, and
extirpating its oppressors. Though strictly
watched by the Spaniards, who allowed him
to reside in the palace of his ancestors at
Guzco, he found means of communicating
his scheme to the persons who were to be
intrusted with the execution of it. Among
people accustomed to revere their sovereign
as a divinity, every hint of his will carries
the authority of a command ; and they them-
selves were now convinced, by the daily
increase in the number of their invaders,
that the fond hopes which they had long en-
tertained of their voluntary departure were

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 173

altogether vain. All perceived that a vigorous BOOK
effort of the whole nation was requisite to ex- ^ ^ ^
pel them, and the preparations for it were car- 1535.
ried on with the secrecy and silence peculiar
to Americans.

AFTER some unsuccessful attempts of the and pro-
Inca'to make his escape, Ferdinand Pizarro hap- B
pening to arrive at that time in Cuzco, he ob-
tained permission from him to attend a great
festival which was to be celebrated a few
leagues from the capital. Under pretext of
that solemnity, the great men of the empire
were assembled. As soon as the Inca joined
them, the standard of war was erected ; and in
a short time all the fighting men, from the
confines of Quito to the frontier of Chili, were
in arms. Many Spaniards, living securely on
the settlements allotted them, were massacred.
Several detachments, as they marched care-
lessly through a country which seemed to be
tamely submissive to their dominion, were cut
off to a man. An army amounting (if we
may believe the Spanish writers) to two hun-
dred thousand men, attacked Cuzco, which
the three brothers endeavoured to defend with
only one hundred and seventy Spaniards. An-
other formidable body invested Lima, and
kept the governor closely shut up. There was
no longer any communication between the

17^ HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK two cities ; the numerous forces of the Peru-
^_ ^ vians spreading over the country, intercepted
1556. every messenger ; and as the parties in Cuzco
and Lima were equally unacquainted with the
fate of their countrymen, each boded the
worst concerning the other, and imagined
that they themselves were the only persons
who had survived the general extinction of
the Spanish name in Peru.6

Siege of IT was at Cuzco, where the Inca com-
manded in person, that the Peruvians made
their chief effort. During nineinonths they
carried on the siege with incessant ardour, and
in various forms ; and though they displayed
not the same undaunted ferocity as the Mexi-
can warriors, they conducted some of their
operations in a manner which discovered
greater sagacity, and a genius more suscep-
tible of improvement in the military art.
They not only observed the advantages which
the Spaniards derived from their discipline
and their weapons, but they endeavoured to
imitate the former, and turned the latter
against them. They armed a considerable
body of their bravest warriors with the swords,
the spears, and bucklers, which they had taken

e Vega, p. 11. lib. ii. c. 28. Zarate, lib. iii. c, 3.
Cieca de Leon, c; 82, Gomara Hist. c. 135.' Hen-era,
dec. 5. lib. viii. c. 5.
16

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 175

from the Spanish soldiers whom they had cut BOOK
off in different parts of the country. These
they endeavoured to marshal in that regular
compact order, to which experience had
taught them that the Spaniards were indebted
for their irresistible force in action. Some ap-
peared in the field with Spanish muskets, and
had acquired skill and resolution enough to
use them. A few of the boldest, among whom
was the Inca himself, were mounted on the
horses which they had taken, and advanced
briskly to the charge like Spanish cavaliers,
with their lances in the rest. It was more by
their numbers, however, than by those imper-
fect essays to imitate European arts and to
employ European arms, that the Peruvians
annoyed the Spaniards. f In spite of the va-
lour, heightened by despair, with which the
three brothers defended Cuzco, Manco Capac
recovered possession of one half of his capital ;
and in their various efforts to drive him out of
it, the Spaniards lost Juan Pizarro, the best
beloved of all the brothers, together with
some other persons of note. Worn out with
the fatigue of incessant duty, distressed with
want of provisions, and despairing of being
able any longer to resist an enemy whose num-
bers daily increased, the soldiers became im-
patient to abandon Cuzco, in hopes either of

1 See NOTE XXL

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK joining their countrymen, if any of them yet
VI. survive, or of forcing their way to the sea, and
1536, finding some means of escaping from a country
which had been so fatal to the Spanish name.g
While they were brooding over those despond-
ing thoughts, which their officers laboured in
vain to dispel, Almagro appeared suddenly in
the neighbourhood of Cuzco.

Arrival of THE accounts transmitted to Almagro con-
^d So-' cerning the general insurrection of the Peru-
v*ans> were sucn as would have induced him,
without hesitation, to relinquish the conquest
of Chili, and hasten to the aid of his country-
men. But in this resolution he was confirmed
by a motive less generous, but more interest-
ing. By the same messenger who brought
him intelligence of the Inca's revolt, he re-
ceived the royal patent creating him governor
of Chili, and defining the limits of his juris-
diction. Upon considering the tenour of it,
he deemed it manifest beyond contradiction,
that Cuzco lay within the boundaries of his
government, and he was equally solicitous to
prevent the Peruvians from recovering pos-
session of their capital, and to wrest it out of the
hands of the Pisarros. From impatience to
accomplish both, he ventured to return by a new

g Herrera, dec* 5. lib. viii. c. 4.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 177

route ; and in marching through the sandy BOOK
plains on the coast, he suffered from heat and
drought, calamities of a new species, hardly
inferior to those in which he had been in-
volved by cold and famine on the summits of
the Andes,

His arrival at Cuzco was in a critical mo- T .

His oper-

ment. The Spaniards and Peruvians fixed
their eyes upon him with equal solicitude.
The former, as he did not study to conceal
his pretensions, were at a loss whether to wel-
come him as a deliverer, or to take precau-
tions against him as an enemy. The latter,
knowing the points in contest between him
and his countrymen, flattered themselves that
they had more to hope than to dread from his
operations. Almagrq himself, unacquainted
with the detail of the events which had hap-
pened in his absence, and solicitous to learn
the precise posture of affairs, advanced to-
wards the capital slowly, and with great cir-
cumspection. 'Various negotiations with both
parties were set on foot. The Inca conducted
them on his part with much address. At first
he endeavoured to gain the friendship of Al-
magro; and after many fruitless overtures,
despairing of any cordial union with a Spa-
niard, he attacked him by surprise with a mu
merous body of chosen troops. But the Sp'a-
nish discipline and valour maintained theip
YQL. ///. N

HISTORY OF AMERICA,

BOOK wonted superiority. The Peruvians were
i _^V^_ pulsed with such slaughter, that a great part of
1557. their army dispersed, and Almagro proceeded
to the gates of Cuzco without interruption.

Takes poj,. THE Pizarros, as they had no longer to make

Mission of , _ . _ .

head against the Peruvians, directed all their
attention towards their new enemy, and took
^measures to obstruct his entry into the capital.
Prudence, however, restrained both parties for
some time from turning their arms against one
another, while surrounded by common ene-
mies, who would rejoice in the mutual
slaughter. Different schemes of accommoda-
tion were proposed. Each endeavoured to
deceive the other, or to corrupt his followers*
The generous, open, affable temper of Al-
magro gained many adherents of the Pizarros,
who were disgusted with their harsh domi-
neering manners* Encouraged by this defec-
tion, he advanced towards the city by night,
surprised the sentinels, or was admitted by
them, and investing the house where the two
brothers resided, compelled them, after an ob-
stinate defence, to surrender at discretion. Al-
magro's claim of jurisdiction over Cuzco was
universally acknowledged, and a form of admi-
nistration established in his name.11

h Zarate, lib. iii. c. 4-. Vega, p. 11. lib. ii. c. 29. Si,
Gomara Hist. c. 134. Herrera, dec. 6. lib. ii. c. 1—5.
15

HISTORY OF AMERICA, 179

Two or three persons only were killed in BOO *
this first act of civil hostility; but it was soon t J1^ ,
followed by scenes more bloody. Francis 1557.

. ,. a, T» * . T Civil war

Pizarro having dispersed the Peruvians who and first
had invested Lima, and received some consi-

derable reinforcements from Hispaniola and
Nicaragua, ordered five hundred men, under
the command of Alonso de Alvarado, to march
to Cuzco, in hopes of relieving his brothers,
if they and their garrison were not already cut
off by the Peruvians. This body, which at
that period of the Spanish power in America,
must be deemed a considerable force, adr
vanced near to the capital before they knew
that they had any enemy more formidable thai*
Indians to encounter. It was with astonish.
ment that they beheld their countrymen posted
on the banks of the river Abancay to oppose
their progress. Almagro, however, wished
rather to gain than to conquer them, and by
bribes and promises endeavoured to seduce
their leader. The fidelity of Alvarado re-
mained unshaken; but his talents for war were
not equal to his virtue. Almagro amused
him with various movements, of which he did
not comprehend the meaning, while a large
detachment of chosen soldiers passed the river July
by night, fell upon his camp by surprise,
broke his troops before they had time to form,
N 3

ISO HISTORY OF AMERICA.

9 0 o K and took him prisoner, together with his prin-
, _y*l _, cipal officers. i

1537.

but does By the sudden rout of this body, the con-
not im- J
prove his test between the two rivals must have been

tages"" decided, if Almagro had known as well how
to improve as how to gain a victory. Rodrigo
Orgognez, an officer of great abilities, who
having served under the Constable Bourbon,
when he led the Imperial army to Rome, had
been accustomed to bold and decisive mea-
sures, advised him instantly to issue orders for
putting to death Ferdinand and Gonzalo Pi-
zarros, Alvarado, and a few other persons
whom he cquld not hope to gain, and to
march directly with his victorious troops to
Lima, before the governor had time to pre-
pare for his defence. But Almagro, though
he discerned at once the utility of the counsel,
and though he had courage to have carried
it into execution, suffered himself to be in-
fluenced by sentiments unlike those of a
soldier of fortune grown old in service, and
by scruples which suited not the chief of a
party who had drawn his sword in civil
war. Feelings of humanity restrained him

5 Zarate, lib. iii, c. 6. Gom. Hist. c. 138. Vega, p. II.
lib. ii. c. 32.34. Herrera, dec. 6. lib. ii. c. 9.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 181

from shedding the blood of his opponents ; B 0 o K
and the dread of being deemed a rebel, de- •._:^-' _.
terred him from entering a province which 1537*
the King had allotted to another. Though he
knew that arms must terminate the dispute
between him and Pizarro, and resolved not to
shun that mode of decision, yet, with a timid
delicacy preposterous at such a juncture, he
was so solicitous that his rival should be con-
sidered as the aggressor, that he marched
quietly back to Cuzco, to wait his approach. k

PIZARRO was still unacquainted with all the Distress of
interesting events which had happened near
Cuzco. Accounts of Almagro's return, of the
loss of the capital, of the death of one bro-
ther, of the imprisonment of the other two,
and of the defeat of Alvarado, were brought
to him at once. Such a tide of misfortunes
almost overwhelmed a spirit which had con-
tinued firm and erect under the rudest shocks
of adversity. But the necessity of attending
to his own safety, as well as the desire of re-
venge, preserved him from sinking under it.
He took measures for both with his wonted His artful
sagacity. As he had the command of the sea-
coast, and expected considerable supplies both
of men and military stores, it was no less his

k Herrera, dec. 6. lib.ii. c. 10,11.
N 3

182 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK interest to gain time, and to avoid action, than
it was that of Altnagro to precipitate opera-
tions, and bring the contest to a speedy issue.
He had recourse to arts which he had formerly
practised with success 5 and Almagro was
again weak enough to suffer himself to be
amused with a prospect of terminating their
differences by some amicable accommodation.
By varying his overtures, and shifting his
ground as often as it suited his purpose, some-
times seeming to yield to every thing which
his rival could desire, and then retracting all
that he had granted, Pizarro dexterously pro-
tracted the negotiation to such a length, that,
though every day was precious to Almagro,
several months elapsed without coming to any
final agreement. While the attention of Al-
magro, and of the officers with whom he con-
sulted, was occupied in detecting and eluding
the fraudulent intentions of the governor,
Gonzalo Pizarro and Alvarado found means
to corrupt the soldiers to whose custody they
were committed, and not only made their
escape themselves, but persuaded sixty of the
men who formerly guarded them to accom-
pany their flight.1 Fortune having thus de-
livered one of his brothers, the governor
scrupled not at one act of perfidy more to pro-

1 Zarate, lib. iii. c. 8. Herrcra, dec. 6. lib. ii. c. 14*

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 183

cure the release of the other. He proposed, BOOK
that every point in controversy between Al- ._ VL .
magro and himself should be submitted to the l537-
decision of their sovereign ; that until his award
was known, each should retain undisturbed
possession of whatever part of the country he
now occupied ; that Ferdinand Pizarro should
be set at liberty, and return instantly to Spain,
together with the officers, whom Almagro pur-
posed to send thither to represent the justice
of his claims. Obvious as the design of Pi-
zarro was in those propositions, and familiar
as his artifices might now have been to his
opponent, Almagro, with a credulity approach-
ing to infatuation, relied on his sincerity, and
concluded an agreement on these terms. m

THE moment that Ferdinand Pizarror re- His Pre~
covered his liberty, the governor, no longer for^
fettered in his operations by anxiety about his
brother's life, threw off every disguise which
his concern for it had obliged him to assume.
The treaty was forgotten ; pacific and concili-
ating measures were no more mentioned j it
was in the field he openly declared, and not
in the cabinet ; by arms, and not by negotia-
tion ; that it must now be determined who
should be master of Peru. The rapidity of

m Herrera, dec. 6. lib. iii. c. 9. Zarate, lib. iii. c. 9.
Gomara, Hist. c. 140. Vega, p, 1 1 . lib. ii. c. 35.

N 4

tor war.

184 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK his preparations suited such a decisive resolu-
tion. Seven hundred men were soon ready
to march towards Cuzco. The command of
these was given to his two brothers, in whom
he could perfectly confide for the execution
of his most violent schemes, as they were urged
on, riot only by the enmity flowing from the
rivalship between their family and Almagro,
but animated with the desire of vengeance,
excited by recollection of their own recent
disgrace and sufferings. After an unsuccessful
attempt to cross the mountains in the direct
road between Lima and Cuzco, they marched
towards the south along the coast as far as
Nasca, and then turning to the left, penetrated
through the defiles in that branch of the Andes
which lay between them and the capital. Al-
magro, instead of hearkening to some of his
officers, who advised him to attempt the de-
fence of those difficult passes, waited the ap-
proach of the enemy in the plain of Cuzco.
Two reasons seem to have induced him to take
this resolution. His followers amounted hardly
to five hundred* and he was afraid of weak-
ening such a feeble body by sending any de->
tachment towards the mountains. His cavalry
far exceeded that of the adverse party, both in
number and discipline, and it was only in an
open country that he could avail himself of
that advantage.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 185

Pizarros advanced without any obstruc- BOOK
tion, but what arose from the nature of the
desert and horrid regions through which they
marched. As soon as they reached the plain, marches to
both factions were equally impatient to bring
this long protracted contest to an issue.
Though countrymen and friends, the subjects
of the same sovereign, and each with the royal
standard displayed ; and though they beheld
the mountains that surrounded the plain in
which they were drawn up, covered with a
vast multitude of Indians, assembled to enjoy
the spectacle of their mutual carnage, and
prepared to attack whatever party remained
master of the field; so fell and implacable
was the rancour which had taken possession of
every breast, that not one pacific counsel, not
a single overture towards accommodation pro-
ceeded from either side. Unfortunately for
Almagro, he was so worn out with the fatigues
of service, to which his advanced age was un-
equal, that, at this crisis of his fate, he could
not exert his wonted activity; and he was
obliged to commit the leading of his troops
to Orgognez, who, though an officer of great
merit, did not possess the same ascendant
either over the spirit or affections of the sol* '. *
diers, as the chief whom they had long been
accustomed to follow and revere.

186 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK THE conflict was fierce, and maintained by
^ each party with equal courage. On the side
1538. of Almagro, were more veteran soldiers, and
A?magro a larger proportion of cavalry y but these were
defeated, counterbalanced by Pizarro's superiority in
numbers, and by two companies of well dis-
ciplined musketeers, which, on receiving an
account of the insurrection of the Indians, the
Emperor had sent from Spain. n As the use of
fire-arms was not frequent among the adven-
turers in America0, hastily equipped for ser-
vice, at their own expense, this small band of
soldiers regularly trained and armed, was a
novelty in Peru, and decided the fate of the
day. Wherever it advanced, the weight of a
heavy and well-sustained fire bore down horse
and foot before it ; and Orgognez, while he
endeavoured to rally and animate his troops,
having received a dangerous wound, the route
became general. The barbarity of the con-
querors stained the glory which they acquired
by this complete victory. The violence of
civil rage hurried on some to slaughter their
countrymen with indiscriminate cruelty j the
meanness of private revenge instigated others
to single out individuals as the objects of their
vengeance. Orgognez and several officers of

n Herrera, dec. 6. lib. iii. c. 8.
0 Zarate, lib. iii. c. 8.

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

distinction were massacred in cold blood ; B o o K
above a hundred and forty soldiers fell in the
field ; a large proportion, where the number of isss,
combatants were few, and the heat of the con-
test soon over. Almagro, though so feeble
that he could not bear the motion of a horse,
had insisted in being carried in a litter to an
eminence which overlooked the field of battle.
From thence, in the utmost agitation of mind,
he viewed the various movements of both
parties, and at last beheld the total defeat of
his own troops, with all the passionate indig-
nation of a veteran leader long accustomed to
victory. He endeavoured to save himself by and takeii,
flight, but was taken prisoner, and guarded
with the strictest vigilance. p

THE Indians, instead of executing the reso*
lution which they had formed, retired quietly
after the battle was over ; and in the history
of the New World, there is not a more strik-
ing instance of the wonderful ascendant which
the Spaniards had acquired over its inhabi-
tants, than that, after seeing one of the con-
tending parties ruined and dispersed, and the
other weakened and fatigued, they had noi
courage to fall upon their enemies, when for-

P Zarate> lib. iii. c. 11, 12. Vega, p. 11. lib. ii. c. 36—38.
Herrera, dec. 6: lib. iii. c. 10—12. lib. iv. c. 1—6.

188 HISTORY OF AMERICA*

BOOK tune presented an opportunity of attacking
i VL_ them with such advantage.*1

1538.

New expe- Cuzco was pillaged by the victorious troops,
who found there a considerable booty, con-
sisting partly of the gleanings of the Indian
treasures, and partly of the wealth amassed
by their antagonists from the spoils of Peru
and Chili. But so far did this, and whatever
the bounty of their leader could add to it,
fall below the high ideas of the recompense
which they conceived to be due to their me-
rit, that Ferdinand Pizarro, unable to gratify
such extravagant expectations, had recourse
to the same expedient which his brother had
employed on a similar occasion, and endea-
voured to find occupation for this turbu-
lent assuming spirit, in order to prevent it
from breaking out into open mutiny. With
this view, he encouraged his most active
officers to attempt the discovery and reduc-
tion of various provinces which had not
hitherto submitted to the Spaniards. To
every standard erected by the leaders who
undertook any of those new expeditions, vo-
lunteers resorted with the ardour and hope
peculiar to the age. Several of Almagro's
soldiers joined them, and thus Pizarro had the

'* Zarate, lib. iii. c. 1 1 . Vega, p. 1 1 . lib. 2. c. 38.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 189

satisfaction of being delivered both from the BOOK
importunity of his discontented friends, and t VI1 .
the dread of his ancient enemies. r 1538-

ALMAGRO himself remained for several
months in custody, under all the anguish of
suspense. For although his doom was deter-
mined by the Pizarros from the moment that
he fell into their hands, prudence constrained
them to defer gratifying their vengeance, until
the soldiers who had served under him, as well
as several of their own followers in whom they
could not perfectly confide, had left Cuzco.
As soon as they set out upon their different
expeditions, Almagro was impeached of trea-
son, formally tried, and condemned to die.
The sentence astonished him j and though he
had often braved death with undaunted spirit
in the field, its approach under this ignomi-
nious form appalled him so much, that he had
recourse to abject supplications, unworthy of
his former fame. He besought the Pizarros
to remember the ancient friendship between
their brother and him, and how much he had
contributed to the prosperity of their family ;
he reminded them of the humanity with which,
in opposition to the repeated remonstrances of

r Zarate, lib. iii. c. 12. Gomara Hist. c. 14-1. Her-
rera, dec. 6. lib. iv. c. 7.

190 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

B o o K his own most attached friends, he had spared

, VI<— ^ie*r ^ves w^en he h^ them in his power ;
1558. he conjured them to pity his age and infirmi-
ties, and to suffer him to pass the wretched
remainder of his days in bewailing his crimes,
and in making his peace with Heaven. The
entreaties, says a Spanish historian, of a man
so much beloved, touched many an unfeeling
heart, and drew tears from many a stern eyfe.
But the brothers remained inflexible. As soon
as Almagro knew his fate to be inevitable, he
met it with the dignity and fortitude of a ve-

and put to teran. He was strangled in prison, and after-
wards publicly beheaded. He suffered in the
seventy-fifth year of his age, and left one son
by an Indian woman of Panama, whom,
though at that time a prisoner in Lima, he
named as successor to his government, pur-
suant to a, power which the Emperor had
granted him.8

1539. As, during the civil dissensions in Peru, all

tionsof* intercourse with Spain was suspended, the de-

ofV ahf ta^ °f ^1€ extraordinary transactions there did

concern- not soon reach the court. Unfortunately for

ing the .

state of the victorious faction, the first intelligence
was brought thither by some of Almagro's

5 Zaratc, lib. 4ii. c. 12. Gomara Hist. c. 141. Vega,
p. 11. lib. ii, c, 39. Herrera, dec. 6. lib.iv. c. 9. lib.v. c. 1.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 191

officers, who left the country upon the ruin of B o o K
their cause ; and they related what had hap- t_ _^L ,
pened, with every circumstance unfavourable 1538«
to Pizarro and his brothers. Their ambition,
their breach of the most solemn engagements,
their violence and cruelty, were painted with
all the malignity and exaggeration of party
hatred. Ferdinand Pizarro, who arrived soon : $
after, and appeared in court with extraordi-
nary splendour, endeavoured to efface the im-
pression which their accusations had made,
and to justify his brother and himself by repre-
senting Almagro as the aggressor. The Em-
peror and his ministers, though they could not
pronounce which of the contending factions
was most criminal, clearly discerned the fatal
tendency of their dissensions. It was obvious,
that while the leaders, intrusted with the con-
duct of two infant colonies, employed the
arms which should have been turned against
the common enemy, in destroying one an-
other, all attention to the public good must
eease, and there was reason to dread that
the Indians might improve the advantage
which the disunion of the Spaniards presented
to them, and extirpate both the victors and
vanquished. But the evil was more apparent
than the remedy. Where the information
which had been received was so defective and
suspicious, and the scene of action so remote,

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

B o o K it was almost impossible to chalk out the line

L V][^ , of conduct that • ought to be followed, and

1539. before any plan that should be approved of

in Spain could be carried into execution, the

situation of the parties, and the circumstances

of affairs, might alter so entirely as to render

its effects extremely pernicious.

Vacade NOTHING therefore remained but to send

Castro .

sent a person to Peru, vested with extensive and
discretionary power, who, after viewing delibe-
rately the posture of affairs with his own eyes,
and inquiring upon the spot into the conduct
of the different leaders, should be authorised to
establish the government in that form which he
deemed most conducive to the interest of the
parent state, and the welfare of the colony.
The man selected for this important charge was
ChristovalVaca de Castro, a judge in the court
of royal audience at Valladolid ; and his abili-
ties, integrity, and firmness, justified the choice.
His instructions, though ample, were not such
as to fetter him in his operations. According to
the different aspect of affairs, he had power to
take upon him different characters. If he found
the governor still alive, he was to assume only
the title of judge, to maintain the appearance
of acting in concert with him, and to guard
against giving any just cause of offence to a man
who had merited so highly of his country. But

10

HISTORY OF AMERICA. IQ3

if Pizarro were dead, he was intrusted with a B o o K
commission that he might then produce, by v - ^ _;
which he was appointed his successor in the 1539.
government of Peru. This attention to Pi-
zarro, however, seems to have flowed rather
from dread of his power, than from any appro- ^
bation of his measures ; for at the very time
that the court seemed so solicitous not to irri.
tate him, his brother Ferdinand was arrested at
Madrid, and confined to a prison, where he
remained above twenty years.1

WHILE Vaca de Castro was preparing for his 1340.

. . Pizarro di-

voyage, events or great moment happened in vides Peru
Peru. The governor, considering himself,
upon the death of Almagro, as the unrivalled
possessor of that vast empire, proceeded to
parcel out its territories among the conquerors ;
and had this division been made with any
degree of impartiality, the extent of country
which he had to bestow, was sufficient to have
gratified his friends, and to have gained his
enemies. But Pizarro conducted this trans-
action, not with the equity and candour of a
judge attentive to discover and to reward
merit, but with the illiberal spirit of a party-
leader. Large districts, in parts of the country

1 Gomara Hist. c. 14-2. Vega, p. 11. lib. ii. c. 40.
Herrera, dec. 6. lib. viii. c. 10, 11. lib. x. c. 1.

VOL. III. O

194- HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK most cultivated and populous, were sefc apart
._ .%— j as his own property, or granted to his brothers,
1540. his adherents and favourites. To others, lots
less valuable and inviting were assigned. The
followers of Almagro, amongst whom were
many of the original adventurers to whose
valour and perseverance Pizarro was indebted
for his success, were totally excluded from any
portion in those lands, towards the acquisition
of which they had contributed so largely. As
the vanity of every individual set an immode-
rate value upon his own services, and the idea
of each concerning the recompense due to
them rose gradually to a more exorbitant
height in proportion as their conquests ex-
tended, all who were disappointed in their ex-
pectations exclaimed loudly against the rapa-
ciousness and partiality of the governor. The
partisans of Almagro murmured in secret, and
meditated revenge."

progress RAPID as the progress of the Spaniards in
Spanish South America had been since Pizarro landed
in Peru, their avidity of dominion was not yet
satisfied. The officers to whom Ferdinand
Pizarro gave the command of different detach-
ments, penetrated into several new provinces,

u Vega, p. 11. lib.iii. c.2. Hrrera, dec. 6. lib. viii.
c.5.

arms.

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

and though some of them were exposed to B o o K
great hardships in the cold and barren regions L_ ^1 ^
of the Andes, and others suffered distress not 1*40.
inferior amidst the woods and marshes of the
plains, they made discoveries arid conquests
which not only extended their knowledge of
the country, but added considerably to the
territories of Spain in the New World. Pedro
de Valdivia re-assumed Almagro's scheme
of invading Chili, and, notwithstanding the
fortitude of the natives in defending their
possessions, made such progress in the con-
quest of the country, that he founded the city
of St. Jago, and gave a beginning to the
establishment of the Spanish dominion in that
province." But of all the enterprises under- Remark-
taken about this period, that of Gonzalo dktnT"
Pizarro was the most remarkable. The gover- gonzal°
nor, who seems to have resolved that no
person in Peru should possess any station
of distinguished eminence or authority but
those of his own family, had deprived Benal-
cazar, the conqueror of Quito, of his com-
mand in that kingdom, and appointed his
brother GdnZalo to take the government of
it. He instructed him to attempt the discovery
and conquest of the country to the east of the
Andes, which, kccdrding to the information

w Zarate, lib. iii. c. 13. Ovalle, lib. il c. 1, &c.
o 2

196 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

B o 0 K of the Indians, abounded with cinnamon and

vi.
- -^--_-« other valuable spices. Gonzalo, not inferior to

I54a any of his brothers in courage, and no less
ambitious of acquiring distinction, eagerly
engaged in this difficult service. He set out
from Quito at the head of three hundred and
forty soldiers, near one half of whom were
horsemen; with four thousand Indians to
carry their provisions. In forcing their way
through the defiles, or over the ridges of the
Andes, excess of cold and fatigue, to neither
of which they were accustomed, proved fatal
to the greater part of their wretched attendants.
Hardships The Spaniards, though more robust, and
endure. inured to a variety of climates, suffered con-
siderably, and lost some men ; but when they
descended into the low country, their distress
increased. During two months it rained in-
cessantly, without any interval of fair weather
long enough to dry their clothes/ The immense
plains upon which they were now entering,
either altogether without inhabitants, or oc-
cupied by the rudest and least industrious tribes
in the New World, yielded little subsistence.
They could not advance a step but as they cut
a road through woods, or made it through
marshes. Such incessant toil, and continual
scarcity of food, seem more than sufficient tQ

* Zarate, lib. iv. c. 2.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 197

have exhausted and dispirited any troops. But BOOK
the fortitude and perseverance oftheSpaniardsin t ^ ,
the sixteenth century were insuperable. Allured 1540t
by frequent but false accounts of rich countries
before them, they persisted in struggling on,
until they reached the banks of the Coca or
Napo, one of the large rivers whose waters
pour into the Maragnon, and contribute to its
grandeur. There, with infinite labour, they
built a bark, which they expected would prove
of great utility, in conveying them over rivers,
in procuring provisions, and in exploring the
country. This was manned with fifty soldiers,
under the command of Francis Orellana, the
officer next in rank to Pizarro. The stream
carried them down with such rapidity, that
they were soon far a-head of their country-
men, who followed slowly and with difficulty
by land.

AT this distance from his commander, Orel-

~ . . . , , by

a young man of an aspiring mind, began

to fancy himself independent, and transported
with the predominant passion of the age, he
formed the scheme of distinguishing himself
as a discoverer, by following the course of the
Maragnon, until it joined the ocean, and by
surveying the vast regions through which it
flows. This scheme of Orellana's was as bold
as it was treacherous. For, if he be charge-
o 3

198 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK able with the guilt of having violated his duty
^2^L^ to his commander, and with having abandoned
i54o. his fellow-soldiers in a pathless desert, where
they had hardly any hopes of success, or even
of safety, but what were founded on the ser-
vice which they expected from the bark; his
crime is, in some measure, balanced by the
glory of having ventured upon a navigation of
near two thousand leagues, through unknown
nations, in a vessel hastily constructed, with
green timber, and by very unskilful hands,
without provisions, without a compass, or a
pilot. But his courage and alacrity supplied
Sails down every defect. Committing himself fearlessly

the Ma- /

ragnon. to the guidance of the stream, the Wapo bore
him along to the south, until he reached the
great .channel of the Maragnon. Turning
with it towards the coast, he held on his
course in that direction. He made frequent
descents on both sides of the river, sometimes
seizing by force of arms the provisions of the
fierce savages seated on its banks; and some-
times procuring a supply of food by a friendly
intercourse with naore gentle tribes. After a
long series of dangers, which he encountered
with amazing fortitude, and of distresses which
he supported with no less magnanimity, he
reached the ocean y, where new perils awaited

* See NOTE XXII.

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

him. These he likewise surmounted, and got BOOK
safe to the Spanish settlement in the island ^ ^
Cubagua; from thence he sailed to Spain. 1540.
The vanity natural to travellers who visit re-
gions unknown to the rest of mankind, and
the art of an adventurer, solicitous to magnify
his own merit, concurred in prompting him
to mingle an extraordinary proportion of the
marvellous in the narrative of his voyage. He
pretended to have discovered nations so rich,
that the roofs of their temples were covered
with plates of gold; and described a republic
of women so warlike and powerful, as to have
extended their dominion over a considerable
tract of the fertile plains which he had visited.
Extravagant as those tales were, they gave
rise to an opinion, that a region abounding
with gold, distinguished by the name of El
Dorado, and a community of Amazons, were
to be found in this part of the New World j
and such is the propensity of mankind to be-
lieve what is wonderful, that it has been slowly
and with difficulty that reason and observation
have exploded those fables. The voyage,
however, even when stripped of every romantic
embellishment, deserves to be recorded not
only as one of the most memorable occur-
rences in that adventurous age, but as the first
event which led to any certain knowledge of
o 4

200 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK the extensive countries that stretch eastward
VL from the Andes to the ocean. z

1540.

Distress of No words can describe the consternation of

Pizarro. pizarro> when he did not find the bark at the

confluence of the Napo and Maragnon, where

he had ordered Orellana to wait for him. He

would not allow himself to suspect that a man,

whom he had intrusted with such an important

command, could be so base and so unfeeling, as

to desert him at such a juncture. But imputing

his absence from the place of rendezvous to

some unknown accident, he advanced above

fifty leagues along the banks of the Maragnon,

expecting every moment to see the bark appear

i54i. with a supply of provisions. At length he came

up with an officer whom Orellana had left to

perish in the desert, because he had the courage

to remonstrate against his perfidy. From him he

learned the extent of Orellana' s crime, and his

followers perceived at once their own desperate

situation, when deprived of their only resource.

The spirit of the stoutest-hearted veteran sunk

within him, and all demanded to be led back

instantly. Pizarro, though he assumed an

appearance of tranquillity, did not oppose their

z Zarate, lib. iv. c. 4. Gomara Hist. c. 86. Vega, p. 1 K
lib. iii. c. 4. Herrera, dec. 6. lib. xi. e. 2—5. Rodriguez
El Maragnon y Amazonas, lib. i. c. 3.

12

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 201

inclination. But he was now twelve hundred BOOK
miles from Quito ;, and in that long march the , VI1 ,
Spaniards encountered hardships greater than 1541-
those which they had endured in their progress
outward, without the alluring hopes which then
soothed and animated them under their suffer-
ings. Hunger compelled them to feed on roots,
and berries, to eat all their dogs and horses,
to devour the most loathsome reptiles, and even
to gnaw the leather of their saddles and sword-
belts. Four thousand Indians, and two hun-
dred and ten Spaniards, perished in this wild
disastrous expedition, which continued near
two years ; and as fifty men were aboard the
bark with Orellana, only fourscore got back to
Quito. These were naked like savages, and
so emaciated with famine, or worn out with
fatigue, that they had more the appearance of
spectres than of men. a

BUT, instead of returning to enjoy the re- Number of
pose which his condition required, Pizarro, on ^ts°in
entering Quito, received accounts of a fatal Peru>
event that threatened calamities more dread-
ful to him than those through which he had
passed. From the time that his brother made

aZarate<lib.iv. c.2— 5. Vega, p. 11. lib.iii. c.3,4-,5.
14s Herrera, dec. 6. lib. viii. c. 7, 8. lib. ix. c. 2—5,
dec. 7. lib. iii. c. 14?. Pizar. Varones, Illustr. 349, &c.

202 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK that partial division of his conquests which had
L ^L been mentioned,, the adherents of Almagro,
i54i. considering themselves as proscribed by the
party in power, no longer entertained any hope
of bettering their condition. Great numbers
in despair resorted to Lima, where the house
of young Almagro was always open to them,
and the slender portion of his father's fortune,
which the governor allowed him to enjoy, was
spent in affording them subsistence. The warm
attachment with which every person who had
served under the elder Almagro devoted him-
self to his interests, was quickly transferred to
his son, who was now grown up to the age of
manhood, and possessed all the qualities which
c sider caP^va^e tne affections of soldiers. Of a
young graceful appearance, dextrous at all martial
asthefr° exercises, bold, open, generous, he seemed to
be formed for command; and as his father,
conscious of his own inferiority, from the total
want of education, had been extremely atten-
tive to have him instructed in every science
becoming a gentleman ; the accomplishments
which he had acquired heightened the respect
of his followers, as they gave him distinction
and eminence among illiterate adventurers.
In this young man the Almagrians found a
point of union which they wanted, and looking
up to him as their head, were ready to under-
take any thing for his advancement. Nor was

13

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 203

affection for Almagro their only incitement ; B o 0 K
they were urged on by their own distresses.
Many of them, destitute of common necessa-
riesb, and weary of loitering away life, a bur-
den to their chief, or to such of their associates
as had saved some remnant of their fortune
from pillage and confiscation, longed impa-
tiently for an occasion to exert their activity
and courage, and began to deliberate how
they might be avenged on the author of all
their misery. Their frequent cabals did not Conspire

against the

pass unobserved; and the governor was warned life of
to be on his guard against men who medi- F
tated some desperate deed, and had resolu-
tion to execute it. But either from the native
intrepidity of his mind, or from contempt of
persons whose poverty seemed to render their
machinations of little consequence, he dis-
regarded the admonitions of his friends. " Be
in no pain," said he carelessly, u about my
life ; it is perfectly safe, as long as every man
in Peru knows that I can in a moment cut oft'
any head which dares to harbour a thought
against it." This security gave the Almagrians
tuE leisure to digest and ripen every part of
their scheme ; and Juan de Herrada, an officer
of great abilities, who had the charge of Al-
iriagro's education, took the direction of their

b See NOTE

204 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK consultations, with all the zeal which this

^ ^ , connection inspired, and with all the autho-

i54i. rity which the ascendant that he was known

to have over the mind of 'his pupil gave

him.

ON Sunday the twenty-sixth of June, at
mid-day, the season of tranquillity and repose
in all sultry climates, Herrada, at the head of
eighteen of the most determined conspirators,
sallied out of Almagro's house in complete
armour ; and, drawing their swords, as they
advanced hastily towards the governor's pa-
lace, cried out, " Long live the King, but
let the tyrant die !" Their associates, warned
of their motions by a signal, were in arms;
at different stations ready to support thenu
Though Pizarro was usually surrounded by
such a numerous train of attendants as suited
the magnificence of the most opulent subject
of the age in which he lived, yet as he was just
risen from table, and most of his domestics
had retired to their own apartments, the con-
spirators passed through the two outer courts
of the palace unobserved. They were at the
bottom of the stair-case, before a page in
waiting could give the alarm to his master,
who was conversing with a few friends in a
large hall. The governor, whose steady mind
no form of danger could appal, starting up*

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 205

called for amis, and commanded Francisco de B o o K
Chaves to make fast the door. But that officer, , VL ,
who did not retain so much presence of mind 1541.
as to obey this prudent order, running to the
top of the stair-case, wildly asked the conspi-
rators what they meant, and whither they were
going? Instead of answering, they stabbed
him to the heart, and burst into the hall.
Some of the persons who were there threw
themselves from the windows; others at-
tempted to fly; and a few drawing their
swords followed their leader into an inner
apartment. The conspirators, animated with
having the object of their vengeance now in
view, rushed forward after them. Pizarro,
with no other arms than his sword and buckler,
defended the entry ; and, supported by his half-
brother Alcantara, and his little knot of
friends, he maintained the unequal contest
with intrepidity worthy of his past exploits,
and with the vigour of a youthful combatant.
" Courage," cried he, " companions ! we are
yet enow to make those traitors repent of their
audacity." But the armour of the conspira-
tors protected them, while every thrust they
made took effect. Alcantara fell dead at his
brother's feet; his other defenders were mor-
tally wounded. The governor, so weary thai-
he could hardly wield his sword, and no longer
able to parry the many weapons furiously aimed

206 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

B o 0 K at him, received a deadly thrust full in his
^_ throat, sunk to the ground, and expired.

1541.

Aimagro As soon as he was slain, the assassins ran

acknow- . , . , ,

ledged as out into the streets, and waving their bloody
swords, proclaimed the death of the tyrant.
Above two hundred of their associates having
joined them, they conducted young Aimagro
in solemn procession through the city, and
assembling the magistrates and principal citi-
zens, compelled them to acknowledge him
as lawful successor to his father in his govern-
ment. The palace of Fizarro, together with
the houses of several of his adherents, were
pillaged by the soldiers, who had the satisfac-
tion at once of being avenged on their ene-
mies, and of eririehing themselves by the spoils
of those through whose hands all the wealth
of Peru had passed,0

THE bbldness ahd success of the conspiracy,
oTdfscord. as we^ as the tiame and popular qualities of
Aimagro, drew many soldiers to his standard.
Every adventurer of desperate fortune, all who
were dissatisfied with Pizarro, and from the
rapaciousness of his government in the latter
years of his life the number of malcontents was

c Zarate, lib. iv. c. 6—8. Gomara Hist. c. 144, 14-5.
Vega, p. 11. lib. iii. c. 5 — 7. Herrera, dec. 6. lib. x.
c. 4— 7. Pizarro Var. Illust. p. 183.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 207

considerable, declared without hesitation in fa- BOOK
vour of Almagro, and he was soon at the head _,

of eight hundred of the most gallant veterans 1541.
in Peru. As his youth and inexperience dis-
qualified him from taking the command of
them himself, he appointed Herrada to act as
general. But though Almagro speedily col-
lected such a respectable force, the acquies-
cence in his government was far from being
general. Pizarro had left many friends to
whom his memory was dear; the barbarous
assassination of a man to whom his country
was so highly indebted, filled every impartial
person with horror. The ignominious birth
of Almagro, as well as the doubtful title on
which he founded his pretensions, led others
to consider him as an usurper. The officers
who commanded in some provinces refused to
recognise his authority, until it was confirmed
by the Emperor. In others, particularly at
Ciizco, the royal standard was erected, aiid
preparations were begun in order to revenge
the murder of their ancient leader.

THOSE seeds of disebrd, which could not Arrival of
have lain long dormant, acquired great vigour Castro e
and activity, when the arrival of Vaca de
Castro was known. After a long and disastrous
voyage, he was driven by stress of weather
into a small harbour in the province of Po-

208 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK payan; and proceeding from thence by land,

._^_, after a journey no less tedious than difficult,

1541. ne reached Quito. In his way he received ac-

whoas- counts of Pizarro's death, and of the events

sumes the

title of go- which followed upon it. He immediately pro-

vernor. . .

duced the royal commission appointing him
governor of Peru, with the same privileges and
authority; and his jurisdiction was acknow-
ledged without hesitation by Benalcazar, ade-
lantado or lieutenant-general for the Emperor
in Popayan, and by Pedro de Puelles, who, in
the absence of Gonzalo Pizarro, had the com-
mand of the troops left in Quito. Vaca de
Castro not only assumed the supreme authority,
but showed that he possessed the talents which
the exercise of it at that juncture required.
By his influence and address he soon assembled
such a body of troops, as not only to set him
above all fear of being exposed to any insult
from the adverse party, but enabled him to
advance from Quito with the dignity that be-
came his character. By dispatching persons
of confidence to the different settlements in
Peru, with a formal notification of his arrival
and of his commission, he communicated to
his countrymen the royal pleasure with respect
to the government of the country. By private
emissaries, he excited such officers as had dis-
covered their disapprobation of Almagro's pro-
ceedings, to manifest their duty to their sove*

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 209

reign by supporting the person honoured with BOOK
his commission. Those measures were pro- , _T_L_.
ductive of great effects. Encouraged by the 15/n-
approach of the new governor, or prepared
by his machinations, the loyal were confirmed
in their principles, and avowed them with
greater boldness ; the timid ventured to declare
their sentiments ; the neutral and wavering,
finding it necessary to choose a side, began to
lean to that which now appeared to be the
safest, as well as the most just.d

ALMAGRO observed the rapid progress of Conduct

of Al-

this spirit or disaffection to his cause, and in

order to give an effectual check to it before
the arrival of Vaca de Castro, he set out at the 1542.
head of his troops for Cuzco, where the. most
considerable body of opponents had erected
the royal standard, under the command of
Pedro Alvarez Holguin. During his march
thither, Herrada, the skilful guide of his
youth, and of his counsels, died ; and from
that time his measures were conspicuous for
their violence, but concerted with little saga-
city, and executed with no address. Holguin,
who, with forces far inferior to those of the
opposite party, was descending towards the
coast at the very time that Almagro was on his

dBenzon,lib. iii. c.9. Zarate, lib. iv. c. 1 1 . Gomara,
c. 146, 147. Herrera, dec. 6. lib.x. c. 1, 2, 3, 7, &c.
VOL. HI. P

210 HISTDHY OF AMERICA.

BOOK way to Cuzco, deceived his unexperienced

^^^ adversary by a very simple stratagem, avoided

1542. an engagement, and effected a junction with

Alvarado, an officer of note, who had been

the first to declare against Almagro as an

usurper.

Progress SOON after, Vaca de Castro entered their
elastic1 camp with the troops which he brought from
Quito, and erecting the royal standard before
his own tent, he declared that, as governor, he
wrould discharge in person all the functions of
general of their combined forces. Though
formed by the tenour of his past life to the
habits of a sedentary and pacific profession, he
at once assumed the activity and discovered
the decision of an officer long accustomed to
command. Knowing his strength to be now
far superior to that of the enemy, he was im-
patient to terminate the contest by a battle.
Nor .did the followers of Almagro, who had
no hopes of obtaining a pardon for a crime so
atrocious as the murder of the governor, de-
Sept. is. cline that mode of decision. They met at
Chupaz, about two hundred miles from Cuzco,
and fought with all the fierce animosity in-
spired by the violence of civil rage, the ran-
cour of private enmity, the eagerness of re-
Defeats venge, and the last efforts of despair. Victory,
Almagro. after remaining long doubtful, declared at last
for Vaca de Castro. The superior number

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

of his troops, his own intrepidity, and the B 0 O K
martial talents of Francisco de Carvajal, a . VJl .
veteran officer formed under the Great Cap- 1542.
tain in the wars of Italy, and who on that day
laid the foundation of his future fame in Peru,
triumphed over the braveiy of his opponents,
though led on by young Almagro with a gal-
lant spirit, worthy of a better cause, and de-
serving another fate. The carnage was great
in proportion to the number of the com-
batants. Many of the vanquished, especially
such as were conscious that they might be
charged with being accessary to the assassi-
nation of Pizarro, rushing on the swords of the
enemy, chose to fall like soldiers, rather than
wait an ignominious doom. Of fourteen hun-
dred men, the total amount of combatants on
both sides, five hundred lay dead on the field,
and the number of the wounded was still
greater.6

IF the military talents displayed by Vaca de Severity of
Castro, both in the council and in the field,
surprised the adventurers in Peru, they were
still more astonished at his conduct after the
victory. As he was by nature a rigid dispenser
of justice, and persuaded that it required ex-

"*t'

c Zarate, lib. iv. c. 12—19. Gomara. c. 148. Vega,
p. 11. lib. iii. c. 11 — 18. Herrera,dec,7« lib.i. c. 1,2, 3.
lib.iii. c.l— 11.

P 2

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK amples of extraordinary severity to restrain the

^ , licentious spirit of soldiers so far removed from

1542- the seat of government, he proceeded directly
to try his prisoners as rebels. Forty were con-
demned to suffer the death of traitors, others
were banished from Peru. Their leader, who
made his escape from the battle, being be-
trayed by some of his officers, was publicly
beheaded in Cuzco ; and in him the name of
Almagro, and the spirit of the party, was
extinct/

Consuita- DURING those violent convulsions in Peru,the

tions of

the Era- Emperor and his ministers were intently em-
?em[nghis ployed in preparing regulations, by which they
h?Ame°nS hoped, not only to re-establish tranquillity there,
rice. kuj. to introduce a more perfect system of inter-
nal policy into all their settlements in the New
World. It is manifest from all the events re-
corded in the history of America, that, rapid and
extensive as the Spanish conquests there had
been, they were not carried on by any regular
exertion of the national force, but by the oc-
casional efforts of private adventurers. After
fitting out a few of the first armaments for dis-
covering new regions, the court of Spain, during
the busy reigns of Ferdinand and of Charles V.,
the former the most intriguihg prince of the

f Zarate, lib. iv. c. 21. Gomara, c. 150. Herrera,
dec. 7. lib.iii. c. 12. lib. vi. c. 1:

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 213

age, and the latter the most ambitious, was BOOK
encumbered with such a multiplicity of , V*l^
schemes, and involved in war with so many 1542-
nations of Europe, that he had not leisure to
attend to distant and less interesting objects.
The care of prosecuting discovery, or of at-
tempting conquest, was abandoned to indi-
viduals; and with such ardour did men push
forward in this new career, on which novelty,
the spirit of adventure, avarice, ambition, and
the hope of meriting heaven, prompted them
with combined influence to enter, that in less
than half a century almost the whole of that
extensive empire which Spain now possesses
in the New World, was subjected to its domi-
nion. As the Spanish court contributed
nothing towards the various expeditions un-
dertaken in America, it was not entitled to
claim much from their success. The sove-
reignty of the conquered provinces, with the
fifth of the gold and silver, was reserved for
the crown ; every thing else was seized by the
associates in each expedition as their own right.
The plunder of the countries which they in-
vaded served to indemnify them for what they
had expended in equipping themselves for
the service, and the conquered territory was
divided among them, according to rules
which custom had introduced, as permanent
establishments which their successful valour
p 3

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK merited. In the infancy of those settlements,
i_r-T- _•; when their extent as well as their value were
1542, unknown, many irregularities escaped obser-
vation, and it was found necessary to connive
at many excesses. The conquered people were
frequently pillaged with destructive rapacity,
and their country parcelled out among its new
masters in exorbitant shares, far exceeding the
highest recompense due to their services. The
rude conquerors of America, incapable of
forming their establishments upon any general
or extensive plan of policy, attentive only to
private interest, unwilling to forego present
gain from the prospect of remote or public
benefit, seem to have had no object but to
amass sudden wealth, without regarding what
might be the consequences of the means by
which they acquired it. But when time at
length discovered to the Spanish court the im-
portance of its American possessions, the ne-
cessity of new-modelling their whole frame
became obvious, and in place of the maxims
and practices, prevalent among military ad-
venturers, it was found requisite to substitute
the institutions of regular government.

ONE evil in particular called for an imme-
diate remedy. The conquerors of Mexico and
Peru imitated the fatal example of their country-
men settled in the islands, and employed them-

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

selves in searching for gold and silver with the BOOK
same inconsiderate eagerness. Similar effects ^ IL_^
followed. The natives employed in tjjis labour 1542.
by masters, who in imposing tasks had no re-
gard either to what they felt or to what they
were able to perform, pined away and perished
so fast, that there was reason to apprehend that
Spain, instead of possessing countries peopled
to such a degree as to be susceptible of pro-
gressive improvement, would soon remain pro-
prietor only of a vast uninhabited desert.

THE Emperor and his ministers were so sen-
sible of this, and so solicitous to prevent the
extinction of the Indian race, which threatened
to render their acquisitions of no value, that
from time to time various laws, which I have
mentioned, had been made for securing to that
unhappy people more gentle and equitable
treatment. But the distance of America from
the seat of empire, the feebleness of govern-
ment in the new colonies, the avarice and
audacity of soldiers unaccustomed to restraint,
prevented these salutary regulations from ope-
rating with any considerable influence. The
evil continued to grow, and at this time the
Emperor found an interval of leisure from the
affairs of Europe to take it into attentive

sideration. He consulted not only with his The per-
ministers and the members of the council of the whom he

advises.
P 4

216 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK Indies, but called upon several persons who-
^ _, had resided long in the New World, to aid
1542. them with the result of their experience and
observation. Fortunately for the people of
America, among these was Bartholomew de
las Casas, who happened to be then at Madrid
on a mission from a Chapter of his order at
Chiapa. s Though since the miscarriage of his
former schemes for the relief of the Indians,
he had continued shut up in his cloister, or oc-
cupied in religious functions, his zeal in behalf
of the former objects of his pity was so far
from abating, that, from an increased know-
ledge of their sufferings, its ardour had aug-
mented. He seized eagerly this opportunity
of reviving his favourite maxims concerning
the treatment of the Indians. With the moving
eloquence natural to a man on whose mind
the scenes which he had beheld had made a
deep impression, he described the irrepa-
rable waste of the human species in the New
World, the Indian race almost totally swept
away in the islands in less than fifty years,
and hastening to extinction on the continent
with the same rapid decay. With the decisive
tone of one strongly prepossessed with the
truth of his own system, he imputed all this
to a single cause, to the exactions and cruelty

8 Remesal Hist, de Chiapa, p. 146,,

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 217

of his countrymen, and contended that no- BOOK
thing could prevent the depopulation of Ame- _^^_,
rica, but the declaring of its natives to be 15-12.
freemen, and treating them as subjects, not
as slaves. Nor did he confide for the success
of this proposal in the powers of his oratory
alone. In order to enforce them, he com-
posed his famous treatise concerning the de-
struction of America h, in which he relates,
with many horrid circumstances, but with
apparent marks of exaggerated description,
the devastation of every province which had
been visited by the Spaniards.

,

THE Emperor was deeply afflicted with the His sollci-
recital of so many actions shocking to huma- troduceT
nity. Bu as his views extended far beyond general re-

J t * formation

those of Las Casas, he perceived that relieving of govern-
the Indians from oppression was but one step
towards rendering his possessions in the New
World a valuable acquisition, and would be
of little avail, unless he could circumscribe the
power and usurpations of his own subjects
there. The conquerors of America, however
great their merit had been towards their coun-
try, were mostly persons of such mean birth,
and of such an abject rank in society, as gave
no distinction in the eye of a monarch. The
exorbitant wealth with which some of them

h Remesal, p. 192. 199.

218 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK returned, gave umbrage to an age not accus-

^_]^ tomed to see men in inferior condition ele-

1542. vated above their level, and rising to emulate
or to surpass the ancient nobility in splendour.
The territories which their leaders had appro-
priated to themselves were of such enormous
extent1, that if the country should ever be
improved in proportion to the fertility of
the soil, they must grow too wealthy and
too powerful for subjects. It appeared to
Charles that this abuse required a remedy no
less than the other, and that the regulations
concerning both must be enforced by a mode
of government more vigorous than had yet
been introduced into America.

New regu- WITH this view he framed a body of laws,

lationsfor . . T . . . . .

this pur- containing many salutary appointments with
respect to the constitution and powers of the
supreme council of the Indies ; concerning the
station and jurisdiction of the royal audiences
in different parts of America ; the adminis-
tration of justice ; the order of government,
both ecclesiastical and civil. These were ap-
proved of by all ranks of men. But together
with them were issued the following regu-
lations, which excited universal alarm, and
occasioned the most violent convulsions:
" That as the repartwwentos or shares of land

* See NOTE XXIV.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 219

seized by several persons appeared to be ex- BOOK
cesssive, the royal audiences are empowered , ^*1
to reduce them to a moderate extent : That 1542,
upon the death of any conqueror or planter,
the lands and Indians granted to him shall not
descend to his widow or children, but return
to the crown : That the Indians shall hence-
forth be exempt from personal service, and
shall not be compelled to carry the baggage
of travellers, to labour in the mines, or to
dive in the pearl fisheries : That the stated
tribute due by them to their superior shall be
ascertained, and they shall be paid as servants
for any work they voluntarily perform : That
all persons who are or have been in public
offices, all ecclesiastics of every denomination,
all hospitals and monasteries, shall be deprived
of the lands and Indians allotted to them,
and these be annexed to the crown: That
every person in Peru, who had any criminal
concern in the contests between Pizarro and
Almagro should forfeit his lands and In-
dians."*

ALL the Spanish ministers who had hitherto His minis-
been intrusted with the direction of Ame-
rican affairs, and who were best acquainted ti
with the tftate of the country, remonstrated

* Herrera, dec, 7. lib^vi. c. 5. Fefnaadez Hist. lib. i.
c.l, 2,

lem.

220 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK against those regulations as ruinous to ther
^_ ^ infant colonies. --They represented, that the
1542. number of Spaniards who had hitherto emi-
grated to the New World was so extremely
small, that nothing could be expected from
any effort of theirs towards improving the
vast regions over which they were scattered ;
that the success of every scheme for this pur-
pose must depend upon the ministry and ser-
vice of the Indians, whose native indolence
and aversion to labour, no prospect of benefit
or promise of reward could surmount ; that
the moment the right of imposing a task, and
exacting the performance of it, was taken
from their masters, every work of industry
must cease, and all the sources from which
wealth begun to pour in upon Spain must
be stopped for ever. But Charles, tenacious
at all times of his own opinions, and so
much impressed at present with the view of
the disorders which reigned in America,
that he was willing to hazard the application
even of a dangerous remedy, persisted in
his resolution of publishing the laws. That
they might be carried into execution with
greater vigour and authority, he authorised
Francisco Tello de Sandoval to repair to
Mexico as Visitador or superintendant of that
country, and to co-operate with Antonio de
Mendoza, the viceroy, in enforcing them.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 221

He appointed Blasco Nugnez Vela to be go- B oy° K
vernor of Peru, with the title of viceroy ; and «
in order to strengthen his administration, he A
established a court of royal audience in Lima,
in which four lawyers of eminence were to
preside as judges.1

THE viceroy and superintendant sailed at Effects of

the regula-

the same time; and an account of the laws tionsin
which they were to enforce reached America g
before them. The entry of Sandoval into
Mexico was viewed as the prelude of general
ruin. The unlimited grant of liberty to the
Indians affected every Spaniard in America
without distinction, and there was hardly one
who might not on some pretext be included
under the other regulations, and suffer by them.
But the colony in New Spain had now been
so long accustomed to the restraints of law
and authority under the steady and prudent
administration of Mendoza, that how much
soever the spirit of the new statutes was de-
tested and dreaded, no attempt was made to
obstruct the publication of them by any act of
violence unbecoming subjects. The magis-
trates and principal inhabitants, however, pre-
sented dutiful addresses to the viceroy and

1 Zarate, lib. iii. c. 24. Gomara, c. 151. Vega, p. 2.
lib. iii. c. 20.

>222 HISTORY OF AMERICA,

BOOK superintendant, representing the fatal conse-

^ ^ , quences of enforcing them. Happily for them

1543. Mendoza, by long residence in the country,
was so thoroughly acquainted with its state,
that he knew what was for its interest as well
as what it could bear ; and Sandoval, though
new in office, displayed a degree of modera-
tion seldom possessed by persons just entering
upon the exercise of power. They engaged
to suspend, for some time, the execution of
what was offensive in the new laws, and not
only consented that a deputation of citizens
should be sent to Europe to lay before the
Emperor the apprehensions of his subjects in
New Spain with respect to their tendency and
effects, but they concurred with them in sup-
porting their sentiments. Charles, moved by
the opinion of men whose abilities and inte-
grity entitled them to decide concerning what
fell immediately under their own view, granted
such a relaxation of the rigour of the laws as
re-established the colony in its former tran-
quillity.111

in Peru. IN Peru the storm gathered with an aspect
still more fierce and threatening, and was not
so soon dispelled. The conquerors of Peru, of

/

m Fernandez Hist. lib. i. c. 3, 4, 5. Vega, p. 11. lib.iii.
e.21, 22. Herrera, dec. 7. lib. v. c. 7. lib. vii. c. 14-, 15.
Torquem. Mond. Ind, lib. v. c. 13.

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

a rank much inferior to those who had subjected BOOK
Mexico to the Spanish crown, farther removed ^_
from the inspection of the parent state, and in-
toxicated with the sudden acquisition of wealth,
carried on all their operations with greater li-
cence and irregularity than any body of adven-
turers in the New World. Amidst the general
subversion of law and order, occasioned by two
successive civil wars, when each individual was
at liberty to decide for himself without any
guide but his own interest or passions, this tur-
bulent spirit rose above all sense of subordina-
tion. To men thus corrupted by anarchy, the
introduction of regular government, the power
of a viceroy, and the authority of a respectable
court of judicature, would of themselves have
appeared formidable restraints, to which they
would have submitted with reluctance. But
they revolted with indignation against the idea
of complying with laws, by which they were
to be stripped at once of all they had earned
so hardly during many years of service and
suffering. As the account of the new laws
spread successively through the different set-
tlements, the inhabitants ran together, the
women in tears, and the men exclaiming
against the injustice and ingratitude of their
sovereign in depriving them, unheard and im-
convicted, of their possessions. " Is this," cried
they, " the recompense due to persons, who*

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK without public aid, at their own expense, and
by their own valour, have subjected to the
1543. crown of Castile territories of such immense
extent and opulence ? Are these the rewards
bestowed for having endured unparalleled dis-
tress, for- having encountered every species of
danger in the service of their country ? Whose
merit is so great, whose conduct has been so
irreproachable, that he may not be condemned
by some penal clause in regulations, conceived
in terms as loose and comprehensive, as if it
had been intended that all should be entan-
gled in their snare ? Every Spaniard of note
jn Peru has held some public office, and all,
without distinction, have been constrained
to take an active part in the contest between
the two rival chiefs. Were the former to be
robbed of their property because they had
done their duty ? Were the latter to be
punished on account of what they could not
avoid? Shall the conquerors of this great
empire, instead of receiving marks of distinc-
tion, be deprived of the natural consolation of
providing for their widows and children, and
leave them to depend for subsistence on the
scanty supply they can extort from unfeeling
courtiers ?a We are not able now, continued
they, to explore unknown regions in quest of

n H en-era, dec. 7. lib.vii. c. 14, 15.

6

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

more secure settlements ; our constitutions BOOK
debilitated with age, and our bodies covered
with wounds, are no longer fit for active ser-
vice ; but still we possess vigour sufficient to
assert our just rights, and we will not tamely
suffer them to be wrested from us."'

BY discourses of this sort, uttered with vehe- An insur-

. rection

mence, and listened to with universal approba- prevented
tion, their passions were inflamed to such a deration0"
pitch, that they were prepared for the most of Castro»
violent measures ; and began to hold consul-
tations in different places, how they might
oppose the entrance of the viceroy and judges,
and prevent not only the execution but the
promulgation of the new laws. From this,
however, they were diverted by the address
of Vaca de Castro, who flattered them with
hopee, that, as soon as the viceroy and judges
should arrive, and had leisure to examine their
petitions and remonstrances, they would con-
cur with them in endeavouring to procure
some mitigation in the rigour of laws which
had been framed without due attention either
to the state of the country, or to the senti-
ments of the people. A greater degree of
accommodation to these, and even some con-
cessions on the part of government, were now

0 Gomara, c. 152. Herrera, dec, 7. lib.vi. c. 10, 11,
Vega, p. 11. lib. iii. c.20. 22, lib. iv. e. 3, 4.

VOL. fir. Q

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK become requisite to compose the present fer-
VL ment, and to soothe the colonists into sub-
1543. mission, by inspiring them with confidence in
their superiors. But without profound dis-
cernment, conciliating manners, and flexibility
of temper, such a plan could not be carried
The spirit on. The viceroy possessed none of these. Of

ofdisaffec- . ,

tionin- all the qualities that fit men for high com-
thence- y mand, he was endowed only with integrity
r°y- and courage ; the former harsh and uncom-
plying, the latter bordering so frequently on
rashness or obstinacy, that in his situation they
March 4. were defects rather than virtues. From the
moment that he landed at Tumbez, Nugnez
Vela seems to have considered himself merely
as an executive officer, without any discre-
tionary power ; and, regardless of whatever he
observed or heard concerning the state of the
country, he adhered to the letter of the regu-
lations with unrelenting rigour. In all the
towns through which he passed, the natives
were declared to be free, every person in
public office was deprived of his lands and
servants ; and as an example of obedience to
others, he would not suffer a single Indian to
be employed in carrying his own baggage in
his march towards Lima. Amazement and
consternation went before him as he ap-
proached ; and so little solicitous was he to
prevent these from augmenting, that, on en-

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

tering the capital, he openly avowed that he B O o K
came to obey the orders of his sovereign, not ,_T/L,.,
to dispense with his laws. This harsh declara- l545-
tion was accompanied with what rendered it
still more intolerable, haughtiness in deport-
ment, a tone of arrogance and decision in
discourse, and an insolence of office grievous
to men little accustomed to hold civil autho-
rity in high respect. Every attempt to pro-
cure a suspension or mitigation of the new
laws, the viceroy considered as flowing from a
spirit of disaffection that tended to rebellion.
Several persons of rank were confined, and
some put to death, without any form of trial.
Vaca de Castro was arrested, and notwith-
standing the dignity of his former rank, and
his merit, in having prevented a general in-
surrection in the colony, he was loaded with
chains, and shut up in the common gaol. p

BUT however general the indignation was
against such proceedings, it is probable the
hand of authority would have been strong
enough to suppress it, or to prevent it bursting be their
out with open violence, if the malecontents
had not been provided with a leader of credit
and eminence to unite and to direct their ef-

P Zarate, lib.iv. c. 23, 2*, 25. Gomara, c. 153— 155.
Vega, p, 1 1. lib. iv. c. 4, 5. Fernandez, lib. 1 . c. 6~ 10,
Q 2

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK forts. From the time that the purport of the
new regulations was known in Peru, every
Spaniard there turned his eyes towards Gon-
zalo Pizarro, as the only person able to avert
the ruin with which they threatened the co-
lony. From all quarters, letters and addresses
were sent to him, conjuring him to stand forth
as their common protector, and offering to
support him in the attempt with their lives and
fortunes. Gonzalo, though inferior in talents
to his other brothers, was equally ambitious,
and of courage no less daring. The behaviour
of an ungrateful court towards his brothers
and himself dwelt continually on his mind.
Ferdinand a state-prisoner in Europe, the
children of the governor in custody of the
viceroy, and sent aboard his fleet, himself
reduced to the condition of a private citizen
in a country, for the discovery and conquest
of which Spain was indebted to his family.
These thoughts prompted him to seek for
vengeance, and to assert the rights of his
family, of which he now considered himself
as the guardian and the heir. But as no Spa-
niard can easily surmount that veneration for
his sovereign which seems to be interwoven
in his frame, the idea of marching in arms
against the royal standard filled him with
horror. He hesitated long, and was still unre-
solved, when the violence of the viceroy, the

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

universal call of his countrymen, and the cer- BOOK
tainty of becoming soon a victim himself to the
severity of the new laws, moved him to quit
his residence at Chuquisaca de la Plata, and re-
pair to Cuzco. All the inhabitants went out to
meet him, and received him with transports of
joy as the deliverer of the colony. In the fer-
vour of their zeal, they elected him procurator-
general of the Spanish nation in Peru, to so-
licit the repeal of the late regulations. They
empowered him to lay their remonstrances
before the royal audience in Lima, and upon
pretext of danger from the Indians, authorised 1544.
him to march thither in arms. Under sanction
of this nomination Pizarro took possession of
the royal treasure, appointed officers, levied
soldiers, seized a large train of artillery, which
Vaca de Castro had deposited in Gumanga,
and set out for Lima, as if he had been ad-
vancing against a public enemy. Disaffection
having now assumed a regular form, and being
united under a chief of such distinguished
name, many persons of note resorted to his
standard; and a considerable part of the
troops, raised by the viceroy to oppose his
progress, deserted to him in a body. q

q Zarate, lib. v. c. 1. Gomara, c. 156, 157. Vega, p. 11*
lib. iv. c.4 — 12. Fernandez, lib. i. c. 12 — 17. Herrera,
dec. 7. lib. vii. c. 18, &c. lib. viii. c. 1—5.

Q 3

230 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BEFORE Pizarro reached Lima, a revolution
had happened there, which encouraged him
1544, to proceed with almost certainty of success,
sionsofthe The violence of the viceroy's administration
was n<>t more formidable to the Spaniards of
^eru> than his overbearing haughtiness was
odious to his associates, the judges of the royal
audience. During their voyage from Spain,
some symptoms of coldness between the vice-
roy and them began to appear. r But as soon
as they entered upon the exercise of their re-
spective offices, both parties were so much ex-
asperated by frequent contests, arising from
interference of jurisdiction and contrariety of
opinion, that their mutual disgust soon grew
into open enmity. The judges thwarted the
viceroy in every measure, set at liberty pri-
soners whom he had confined, justified the
malecontents, and applauded their remon-
strances. At a time when both departments
of government should have united against the
approaching enemy, they were contending
with each other for superiority. The judges
The vice- at length prevailed. The viceroy, universally
soned. odious, and abandoned even by his own
guards, was seized in his palace, and carried
to a desert island on the coast, to be kept there
until he could be sent home to Spain.

r Gomara, c. 171.

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

THE judges, in consequence of this, having BOOK
assumed the supreme direction of affairs into ,__ Y^ J
their own hands, issued a proclamation sus- 1544.
pending the execution of the obnoxious laws,
and sent a message to Pizarro, requiring him,
as they had already granted whatever he could
request, to dismiss his troops, and to repair to
Lima with fifteen or twenty attendants. They
could hardly expect that a man so daring and
ambitious would tamely comply with this re-
quisition. It was made, probably, with no
such intention, but only to throw a decent veil
over their own conduct ; for Cepeda, the pre-
sident of the court of audience, a pragmatical
and aspiring lawyer, seems to have held a se-
cret correspondence with Pizarro, and had
already formed the plan, which he afterwards
executed, of devoting himself to his service.
The imprisonment of the viceroy, the usurp-
ation of the judges, together with the universal
confusion and anarchy consequent upon events
so singular and unexpected, opened new and
vast prospects to Pizarro. He now beheld the
supreme power within his reach. Nor did he
want courage to push on towards the object
which fortune presented to his view. Carvajal,
the prompter of his resolutions, and guide of
all his actions, had long fixed his 'eye upon it
as the only end at which Pizarro ought to aim.
Instead of the inferior function of procurator
Q 4

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK for the Spanish settlements in Peru, he openly

,_ VL , demanded to be governor and captain-general

1544. of the whole province, and required the court

of audience to grant him a commission to that

effect. At the head of twelve hundred men,

within a mile of Lima, where there was neither

leader nor army to oppose him, such a request

carried with it the authority of a command.

But the judges, either from unwillingness to

relinquish power, or from a desire of preserv*

ing some attention to appearances, hesitated,

or seemed to hesitate, about complying with

tie as- what he demanded. Carvajal, impatient of

sumes the *, -, ^ • • 1 1 i • , • '

govern- delay, and impetuous in all his operations,
ment" marched into the city by night, seized several
officers of distinction obnoxious to Pizarro,
and hanged them without the formality of a
trial. Next morning the court of audience
issued a commission in the Emperor's name,
appointing Pizarro governor of Peru, with
full powers, civil as well as military, and he
entered the town that day with extraordinay
pomp, to take possession of his new dignity.*

Oct. ss. BUT amidst the disorder and turbulence which

The vice-
roy re- accompanied this total dissolution of the frame

covers his
liberty.

8 Zarate, lib. v. c. 8—10. Vega, p. 11. lib. iv. c. 13—

19. Gomara, c. 159—163. Fernandez, lib. i. c. 18—25.

Herrera, dec. 7. lib. viii. c. 10 — 20.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 233

of government, the minds of men, set loose BOOK
from the ordinary restraints of law and autho-
rity, acted with such capricious irregularity,
that events no less extraordinary than unex-
pected followed in a rapid succession. Pizarro
had scarcely begun to exercise the new powers
with which he was invested, when he beheld
formidable enemies rise up to oppose him.
The viceroy having been put on board a vessel
by the judges of the audience, in order that
he might be carried to Spain under custody of
Juan Alvarez one of their own number ; as
soon as they were out at sea, Alvarez, either
touched with remorse, or moved by fear,
kneeled down to his prisoner, declaring him
from that moment to be free, and that he
himself, and every person in the ship, would
obey him as the legal representative of their
sovereign. Nugnez Vela ordered the pilot of
the vessel to shape his course towards Tum-
bez, and as soon as he landed there, erected
the royal standard, and resumed his functions
of viceroy. Several persons of note, to whom
the contagion of the seditious spirit which
reigned at Cuzco and Lima had not reached,
instantly avowed their resolution to support
his authority. l The violence of Pizarro's go-

e Zarate, lib. 5. c. 9. Gomara, c. 165. Fernandez,
lib. i. c. 23. Herrera, dec. 7. Kb. viii. c. i5.

234 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK vernment, who observed every individual with
v_ w the jealousy natural to usurpers, and who pu-
1544. nished every appearance of disaffection with
unforgiving severity, soon augmented the num-
ber of the viceroy's adherents, as it forced
some leading men in the colony to fly to him
for refuge. While he was gathering such
strength at Tumbez, that his forces began to
assume the appearance of what was considered
as an army in America, Diego Centeno, a
bold and active officer, exasperated by the
cruelty and oppression of Pizarro's lieutenant-
governor in the province of Charcas, formed
a conspiracy against his life, cut him off, and
declared for the viceroy. u

1545. PIZARRO, though alarmed with those appear-
arches ances of hostility in the opposite extremes of

against ^ne empire, was not disconcerted. He pre-
pared to assert the authority to which he had
attained, with the spirit and conduct of an
officer accustomed to command, and marched
directly against the viceroy as the enemy who
was nearest as well as most formidable. As
he was master of the public revenues in Peru,
and most of the military men were attached to
his family, his troops were so numerous, that

u Zarate, lib. v. c. 18. Gomara, c. 169. Herrera,
dec. 7. lib. ix. c, 27.

6

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

the viceroy, unable to face them, retreated to- BOOK
wards Quito. Pizarro followed him ; and in ^
that long march, through a wild mountainous
country, suffered hardships and encountered
difficulties, which no troops but those accus-
tomed to serve in America could have endured
or surmounted. w The viceroy had scarcely
reached Quito, when the vanguard of Pizarrofs
forces appeared, led by Carvajal, who, though
near fourscore, was as hardy and active as any
young soldier under his command. Nugnez
Vela instantly abandoned a town incapable of
defence, and with a rapidity more resembling
a flight than a retreat, marched into the pro-
vince of Popayan. Pizarro continued to pur-
sue ; but finding it impossible to overtake him,
returned to Quito. From thence he dispatched
Carvajal to oppose Centeno, who was growing
formidable in the southern provinces of the
empire, and he himself remained thejfe to
make head against the viceroy. x

BY his own activity, and the assistance of The vicc
Benaleazar, Nugnez Vela soon assembled four
hundred men in Popayan. As he retained,

w See NOTE XXV.

* Zarate, lib. v. c. 15,16—24. Gomara, c. 167. Vega,
p. 11. lib. iv. c. 25—28. Fernandez, lib. i. c. 34. 40.
Herrera, dec. 7. lib. viii. c. 16. 20—27.

236

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

1545.

1546.

Jan. 18.

B ° ° K amidst all his disasters, the same elevation of
mind, and the Same high sense of his own
dignity, he rejected with disdain the advice of
some of his followers who urged him to make
overtures of accommodation to Pizarro, de-
claring that it was only by the sword that a
contest with rebels could be decided. With
this intention he marched back to Quito. Pi-
zarro, relying on the superior number, and still
more on the discipline and valour of his
troops, advanced resolutely to meet him.
The battle was fierce and bloody, both parties
fighting like men who knew that the possession
of a great empire, the fate of their leaders,
and their own future fortune, depended upon
the issue of that day. But Pizarro's veterans
pushed forward with such regular and well-
directed force, that they soon began to make
impression on their enemies. The viceroy,
by extraordinary exertions, in which the abi-
lities of a commander and the courage of a
soldier were equally displayed, held victory

and slam. £Qr some tjme jin SUSpense. At length he fell,
pierced with many wounds ; and the rout of
his followers became general. They were
hotly pursued. His head was cut off, and
placed on the public gibbet in Quito, which
Pizarro entered in triumph. The troops assem-
bled by Centeno were dispersed soon after by

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 237

Carvajal, and he himself compelled to fly to B O o K
the mountains, where he remained for several -._^1 .
months concealed in a cave. Every person in 1546-
Peru, from the frontiers of Popayan to those
of Chili, submitted to Pizarro ; and by his
fleet, under Pedro de Hinojosa, he had not
only the unrivalled command of the South
Sea, but had taken possession of Panama, and
placed a garrison in Nombre de Dios, on the
opposite side of the isthmus, which rendered
him master of the only avenue of communica-
tion between Spain and Peru, that was used at
that period/

AFTER this decisive victory, Pizarro and his

o 11 t f> ^. • T advised t«

followers remained for some time at Quito, and resume the
during the first transports of their exultation, reigiu of

they ran into every excess of licentious indul- Peru>
gence, with the riotous spirit usual among low
adventurers upon extraordinary success. But
amidst this dissipation, their chief and his con-
fidants were obliged to turn their thoughts
sometimes to what was serious, and deliberated
with much solicitude concerning the part that
he ought now to take. Carvajal, no less bold
and decisive in council than in the field, had

y Zarate, lib. v. c. 31, 32. Gomara, c. 170. Vega,
p. 11. lib. iv. c.33,34. Fernandez, lib. i. c. 51— 54. Her -
rera, dec. 7. lib. x. c, 12. 19—22. dec. 8. lib. i. c.l— 3-
Benzo, lib. iii. c. 12.

238 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK from the beginning warned Pizarro, that in the
__Y^_; career on which' he was entering, it was vain
154$. to think of holding a middle course ; that he
must either boldly aim at all, or attempt no-
thing. From the time that Pizarro obtained
possession of the government of Peru, he in-
culcated the same maxim with greater earn-
estness. Upon receiving an account of the
victory at Quito, he remonstrated with him in
a tone still more peremptory. " You have
usurped," said he, in a letter written to Pi-
zarro on that occasion, " the supreme power in
this country, in contempt of the Emperor's
commission to the viceroy. You have marched
in hostile array against the royal standard ; you
have attacked the representative of your sove-
reign in the field, have defeated him, and cut
off his head. Think not that ever a monarch
will forgive such insults on his dignity, or
that any reconciliation with him can be cordial
of sincere. Depend no longer on the preca-
rious favour of another. Assume yourself the
sovereignty over a country, to the dominion of
which your family has a title founded on the
rights both of discovery and conquest. It is
in your power to attach every Spaniard in
Peru of any consequence inviolably to your
interest by liberal grants of lands and of In-
dians, or by instituting ranks of nobility, and
creating titles of honour similar to those which

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

are courted with so much eagerness in Europe. BOOK
By establishing orders of knighthood, with ^ VL
privileges and distinctions resembling those in 1546.
Spain, you may bestow a gratification upon
the officers in your service, suited to the
ideas of military men. Nor is it to your
countrymen only that you ought to attend ;
endeavour to gain the natives. By marrying
the Coya, or daughter of the Sun next in
succession to the crown, you will induce the
Indians, out of veneration for the blood of
their ancient princes, to unite with the
Spaniards in support of your authority. —
Thus, at the head of the ancient inhabitants
of Peru, as well as of the new settlers there,
you may set at defiance the power of Spain,
and repel with ease any feeble force which
it can send at such a distance." Cepeda,
the lawyer, who was now Pizarro's confi-
dential counsellor, warmly seconded Carva-
jal's exhortations, and employed whatever
learning he possessed in demonstrating, that
all the founders of great monarchies had been
raised to pre-eminence, not by the antiquity
of their lineage, or the validity of their rights,
but by their own aspiring valour and personal
merit. z

z Vega, p. 11. lib. iv. c.40. Fernandez, lib. i. c. 34.
lib.ii. c. 1.49. Herrera, dec. 8. lib. ii. c. 10.

240 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

PIZARRO listened attentively to both, and
could not conceal the satisfaction with which
But546' ^le contemplated the object that they presented
chooses to his view. But happily for the tranquillity of
tiatewith the world, few men possess that superior
of Spain! strength of mind, and extent of abilities, which
are capable of forming and executing such
daring schemes, as cannot be accomplished
without overturning the established order of
society, and violating those maxims of duty
which men are accustomed to hold sacred. The
mediocrity of Pizarro's talents circumscribed
his ambition within more narrow limits. In-
stead of aspiring at independent power, he
confined his views to the obtaining from the
court of Spain a confirmation of the authority
which he now possessed ; and for that purpose,
he sent an officer of distinction thither, to give
such a representation of his conduct, and of
the state of the country, as might induce the
Emperor and his ministers, either from inclina-
tion or from necessity, to continue him in his
present station.

Consulta- WHILE Pizarro was deliberating with respect

the to the part which he should take, consultations

ministers. were held in Spain, with no less solicitude,

concerning the measures which ought to be

pursued in order to re-establish the Emperor's

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 241

authority in Peru. Though unacquainted with BOOK
the last excesses of outrage to which the mal- ,_ _^ j
contents had proceeded in that country, the 1546-
court had received an account of the insurrec-
tion against the viceroy, of his imprisonment,
and the usurpation of the government by
Pizarro. A revolution so alarming called for
an immediate interposition of the Emperor's
abilities and authority. But as he was fully
occupied at that time in Germany, in con-
ducting the war against the famous league of
Smalkalde, one of the most interesting and
arduous enterprises in his reign, the care of
providing a remedy for the disorders in Peru
devolved upon his son Philip, and the counsel-
lors whom Charles had appointed to assist him
in the government of Spain during his absence.
At first view, the actions of Pizarro and his ad-
herents appeared so repugnant to the duty of
subjects towards their sovereign, that the
greater part of the ministers insisted on declar-
ing them instantly to be guilty of rebellion, and
on proceeding to punish them with exemplary
rigour. But when the fervour of their zeal and
indignation began to abate, innumerable ob-
stacles to the execution of this measure pre-
sented themselves. The veteran bands of in-
fantry, the strength and glory of the Spanish
armies, were then employed in Germany.
in. K

242 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK Spain, exhausted of men and money by a long

, ^ series of wars, in which she had been involved

1546. by the restless ambition of two successive ino-
narchs, could not easily equip an armament of
sufficient force to reduce Pizarro. To trans-
port any respectable body of troops to a coun-
try so remote as Peru, appeared almost impos-
sible. While Pizarro continued master of the
South Sea, the direct route by Nombre de
Dios and Panama was impracticable. An at-
tempt to march to Quito by land through the
new kingdom of Granada, and the province of
Popayan, across regions of prodigious extent,
desolate, unhealthy, or inhabited by fierce and
hostile tribes, would be attended with unsur-
mountable danger and hardships. The passage
to the South Sea by the Straits of Magellan
was so tedious, so uncertain, and so little known
in that age, that no confidence could be placed
in any effort carried on in a course of navi-
gation so remote and precarious. Nothing
then remained but to relinquish the system
which the ardour of their loyalty had first
suggested, and to attempt by lenient measures
what could not be effected by force. It was
manifest from Pizarro' s solicitude to represent
his conduct in a favourable light to the Em-
peror, that notwithstanding the excesses of
which he had been guilty, he still retained

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

sentiments of veneration for his sovereign. By B O o K
a proper application to these, together with .^ ^^_,
some such concessions as should discover a spirit 1 546.
of moderation and forbearance in government,
there was still room to hope that he might be
yet reclaimed, or the ideas of loyalty natural
to Spaniards might so far revive among his
followers, that they would no longer lend their
aid to uphold his usurped authority.

THE success, however, of this negotiation, Gasca ap-
no less delicate than it was important, de- ^pSr to*0
pended entirely on the abilities and address of
the person to whom it should be committed.
After weighing with much attention the com-
parative merit of various persons, the Spanish
ministers fixed with unanimity of choice upon
Pedro de la Gasca, a priest in no higher sta-
tion than that of counsellor to the Inquisition.
Though in no public office, he had been occa-
sionally employed by government in affairs of
trust and consequence, and had conducted
them with no less skill than success ; displaying
a gentle and insinuating temper, accompanied
with much firmness ; probity, superior to any
feeling of private interest ; and a cautious
circumspection in concerting measures, fol-
lowed by such vigour in executing them, as
is rarely found in alliance with the other.
R 2

HISTORY OF AMERICA.
BOOK These qualities marked him out for the func-

VI

i_.-^l._, tion to which he -Was destined. The Emperor,
1546< to whom Gasca was not unknown, warmly
approved of the choice, and communicated
it to him in a letter containing expressions of
good-will and confidence, no less honourable
to the prince who wrote, than to the subject
who received it. Gasca, notwithstanding his
advanced age and feeble constitution, and
though, from the apprehensions natural to a
man, who, during the course of his life, had
never been out of his own country, he dreaded
the effects of a long voyage, and of an un-
healthy climate51, did not hesitate a moment
about complying with the will of his sovereign.

His mode- But as a proof that it was from this principle
alone he acted, he refused a bishopric which
was offered to him, in order that he might
appear in Peru with a more dignified character;
he would accept of no higher title than that of
President of the Court of Audience in Lima ;
and declared that he would receive no salary
on account of his discharging the duties of
that office. All he required was, that the
expense of supporting his family .should be
defrayed by the public, and as he was to go like
a minister of peace with his gown and breviary,

* Fernandez, lib. 2. c. 17.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 245

and without any retinue but a few domestics, BOOK
this would not load the revenue with any . VL ,
enormous burden.5 1546-

BUT while he discovered such disinterested The
moderation with respect to whatever related committed
personally to himself, he demanded his official to hlH1*
powers in a very different tone. He insisted,
as he was to be employed in a country so
remote from the seat of government, where he
could not have recourse to his sovereign for
new instructions on every emergence ; and a&
the whole success of his negotiations must
depend upon the confidence which the people
with whom he had to treat could place in the
extent of his powers, that he ought to be in-
vested with unlimited authority ; that his ju-
risdiction must reach to all persons and to all
causes ; that he must be empowered to pardon,
to punish, or to reward, as circumstances and
the behaviour of different men might require ;
that in case of resistance from the malecontents,
Jie might be authorised to reduce them to obe-
dience by force of arms, to levy troops for
that purpose, and to call for assistance from
the governors of all the Spanish settlements
in America. These powers, though mani-

b Zarate, lib. vi. c. 6. Gomara, c. 174-. Fernandez,
lib. ii. c. 14 — 16. Vega, p. 11. lib. v. c, i. Herrera,
dec. 8. lib. i. c. 4, &c.

R 3

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK f'estly conducive to the great objects of his
i ._y-l._, mission, appeared to the Spanish ministers to
1546. be inalienable prerogatives of royalty, which
ought not to be delegated to a subject, and
they refused to grant them. But the Emperor's
views were more enlarged. As from the
nature of his employment, Gasca must be in-
trusted with discretionary power in several
points, and all his efforts might prove ineffec-
tual if he was circumscribed in any one par-
ticular, Charles scrupled not to invest him
with authority to the full extent that he de-
manded. Highly satisfied with this fresh
proof of his master's confidence, Gasca
hastened his departure, and, without either
money or troops, set out to quell a formidable
rebellion.0

July 27. ON his arrival at Nombre de Dios, he found

His arri-
val at Pa- Herman Mexia, an officer of note, posted

there, by order of Pizarro, with a consider-
able body of men, to oppose the landing of
any hostile forces. But Gasca appeared in
such pacific guise, with a train so little for-
midable, and with a title of no such dignity as
to excite terror, that he was received with
much respect. From Nombre de Dios he ad-
vanced to Panama, and met with a similar
reception from Hinojosa, whom Pizarro had

c Fernandez, lib. ii. c. 16—18.

nama.

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

intrusted with the government of that town, BOOK
and the command of his fleet stationed there. t VI1 ,
In both places he held the same language, de- *546.
claring that he was sent by their sovereign as
a messenger of peace, not as a minister of
vengeance ; that he came to redress all their
grievances, to revoke the laws which had ex-
cited alarm, to pardon past offences, and to
re-establish order and justice in the govern-
ment of Peru. His mild deportment, the sim-
plicity of his manners, the sanctity of his
profession, and a winning appearance of can-
dour, gained credit to his declarations. The
veneration due to a person clothed with legal
authority, and acting in virtue of a royal com-
mission, began to revive among men accus-
tomed for some time to nothing more respect-
able than an usurped jurisdiction. Hinojosa,
Mexia, and several other officers of distinction,
to each of whom Gasca applied separately,
were gained over to his interest, and waited
only for some decent occasion of declaring
openly in his favour, d

THIS the violence of Pizarro soon afforded Violent
them. As soon as he heard of Gasca's arrival ingSC0f
at Panama, though he received, at the same
time, an account of the nature of his commis-

* Fernandez, lib. ii. c. 21, &c. Zarate, lib. vi. c. 6, 7.
Gomara, c. 175. Vega, p. 1 1 . lib. v. c. 3.
R 4

248 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK sion, and was informed of his offers not only to
render every Spaniard in Peru easy concerning

1546. what was past? fcy an act Of geneia] oblivion ;
but secure with respect to the future by repeal-
ing the obnoxious laws ; instead of accepting
with gratitude his sovereign's gracious con-
cessions, he was so much exasperated on finding
that he was not to be continued in his station
as governor of the country, that he instantly
resolved to oppose the president's entry into
Peru, and to prevent his exercising any juris-
diction there. To this desperate resolution he
added another highly preposterous. He sent
a new deputation to Spain to justify this con-
duct, and to insist, in name of all the com-
munities in Peru, for a confirmation of the
government to himself during life, as the only
means of preserving tranquillity there. The
persons intrusted with this strange commission,
intimated the intention of Pizarro to the pre-
sident, and required him, in his name, to de-
part from Panama and return to Spain. They
carried likewise secret instructions to Hinojosa,
directing him to offer Gasca a present of fifty
thousand pesos, if he would comply voluntarily
with what was demanded of him ; and if he
x should continue obstinate, to cut him off, either
by assassination or poison.6

c Zarate, lib. vi. c. 8. Fernandez, lib. ii.c. 33, 34. Her-
rera, dec. 8. lib. 2. c. 9, 10.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 249

MANY circumstances concurred in pushing BOOK
on Pizarro to those wild measures. Having '^.
been once accustomed to supreme command, „ 154C-

* Gasca

he could not bear the thoughts of descending gains his
to a private station. Conscious of his own
demerit, lie suspected that the Emperor studied
only to deceive him, and would never pardon
the outrages which he had committed. His ^v ;
chief confidants, no less guilty, entertained
the same apprehensions. The approach of
Gasca without any military force excited no
terror. There were now above six thousand
Spaniards settled in Peruf ; and at the head of
these he doubted not to maintain his own in-
dependence, if the court of Spain should refuse
to grant what he required. But he knew not
that a spirit of 'defection had already begun to
spread among those whom he trusted most.
Hinojosa, amazed at Pizarro's precipitate reso-
lution of setting himself in opposition to the
Emperor's commission, and disdaining to be
his instrument in perpetrating the odious
crimes pointed out in his secret instructions,
publicly recognised the title of the presi-
dent to the supreme authority in Peru. The
officers under his command did the same.
Such was the contagious influence of the
example, that it reached even the deputies who '

f Herrera, dec. 8. lib. iii. c. 1 .

250 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK had been sent from Peru ; and at the time

t VL when Pizarro expected to hear either of Gasca' s

1546. return to Spain, or of his death, he received an

account of his being master of the fleet, of

Panama, and of the troops stationed there.

1547- IRRITATED almost to madness by events so

Pizarro re- 9

solves on unexpected, he openly prepared for war ; and
in order to give some colour of justice to his
arms, he appointed the court of audience in
'Lima to proceed to the trial of Gasca, for the
crimes of having seized his ships, seduced his
officers, and prevented his deputies from pro-
ceeding in their voyage to Spain. Cepeda,
though acting as a judge in virtue of the royal
commission, did not scruple to prostitute the
dignity of his function by finding Gasca guilty
of treason, and condemning him to death on
that account/ Wild, and even ridiculous as
this proceeding was, it imposed on the low
illiterate adventurers, with whom Peru was
filled, by the semblance of a legal sanction war-
ranting Pizarro to carry on hostilities against
a convicted traitor. Soldiers accordingly re-
sorted from every quarter to his standard, and
he was soon at the head of a thousand men,

« Fernandez, lib.ii. c. 55. Vega, p. 11. lib. v. c.7«
Herrera, dec. 8. lib.iii. c.6.

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

the best equipped that had ever taken the field BOOK
in Peru. ^_._^,_,

1547.

GASCA, on his part, perceiving that force Prepara-

tionsof

must be employed in order to accomplish the Gasca.
purpose of his mission, was no less assiduous in
collecting troops from Nicaragua, Carthagena,
and other settlements on the continent ; and
with such success, that he was soon in a con-
dition to detach a squadron of his fleet, with a
considerable body of soldiers, to the coast of
Peru. Their appearance excited a dreadful April,
alarm : and though they did not attempt for
some time to make any descent, they did more
effectual service by setting ashore in different
places persons who dispersed copies of the act
of general indemnity, and the revocation of the
late edicts ; and who made known every where
the pacific intentions, as well as mild temper,
of the president. The effect of spreading this
information was wonderful. All who were dis-
satisfied with Pizarro's violent administration,
all who retained any sentiments of fidelity to
their sovereign, began to meditate revolt.
Some openly deserted a cause which they now
deemed to be unjust. Centeno, leaving the Ins"r-
cave in which he lay concealed, assembled about Centeno,
fifty of his former adherents, and with this
feeble half-armed band advanced boldly to

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK Cuzco. By a sudden attack in the night-time,

v VL J in which he displayed no less military skill than

J£47. valour, he rendered himself master of that

capital, though defended by a garrison of five

hundred men. Most of these having ranged

themselves under his banners, he had soon the

command of a respectable body of troops. h

against Piz AERO, though astonished at beholding one

whom Pi-

zarro enemy approaching by stea, and another by
land, at a time when he trusted to the union
of all Peru in his favour, was of a spirit more
undaunted, and more accustomed to the vicis-
situdes of fortune, than to be disconcerted or
appalled. As the danger from Centeno's
operations was the most urgent, he instantly
set out to oppose him. Having provided
horses for all his soldiers, he marched with
amazing rapidity. But every morning he
found his force diminished, by numbers who
had left him during the night 5 and though
he became suspicious to excess, and punished
without mercy all whom he suspected, the
rage of desertion was too violent to be
checked. Before he got within sight of the
enemy at Huarina, near the lake Titiaca, he
could not muster more than four hundred

h Zarate, lib.vi. c. 13—16. Gomara, c. 180, 181.
Fernandez, lib. ii. c. 28. 64, &c.

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

soldiers. But these he justly considered as men BOOK

of tried attachment, on whom he might de- ( IL_,

pend. They were indeed the boldest and most 1547.
desperate of his followers, conscious, like him-
self, of crimes for which they could hardly
expect forgiveness, and without any hope but
in the success of their arms. With these he did October

20

not hesitate to attack Centeno's troops, though
double to his own in number. The royalists
did not decline the combat. It was the most
obstinate and bloody that had hitherto been
fought in Peru. At length the intrepid valour and de-
of Pizarro, and the superiority of CarvajaPs
military talents, triumphed over numbers, and
obtained a complete victory. The booty was
immense1, and the treatment of the vanquished
cruel. By this signal success the reputation
of Pizarro was re-established, and being now
deemed invincible in the field, his army in-
creased daily in number/

BUT events happened in other parts of Peru,
which more than counterbalanced the splendid
victory at Huarina. Pizarro had scarcely left
Lima, when the citizens, weary of his oppressive

1 See NOTE XXVI.

k Zarate, lib. vii. c. 2, 3. Gomara, c. 181. Vega, p. 11.
lib. 5. c.!8,&c. Fernandez, lib. ii. c. 79. Herrera,dec. 8.
lib. iv. c. 1,2,

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK dominion, erected the royal standard, and
Aldana, with a- detachment of soldiers from
the fleet, took possession of the town. About

Gasca

lands at the same time1, Gasca landed at Tumbez with
five hundred men. Encouraged by his pre-
sence, every settlement in the low country
declared for the King. The situation of the
two parties was now perfectly reversed ; Cuzco
and the adjacent provinces were possessed by
Pizarro ; all the rest of the empire, from Quito
southward, acknowledged the jurisdiction of
the president. As his numbers augmented
fast, Gasca advanced into the interior part of
the country. His behaviour still continued to
be gentle and unassuming ; he expressed, on
every occasion, his ardent wish of terminating
the contest without bloodshed. More solici-
tous to reclaim than to punish, he upbraided
no man for past offences, but received them
as a father receives penitent children returning
to a sense of their duty. Though desirous of
peace, he did not slacken his preparations for
Advances war. He appointed the general rendezvous
Cuz«>ds °f his troops in the fertile valley of Xauxa, on
the road to Cuzco.m There he remained for
some months, not only that he might have
time to make another attempt towards an

i

1 Zarate, lib. vi. c. 17.
m Zarate> lib. vii. c. 9. ^Fernandez, lib. ii. c. 77. 82.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. £55

accommodation with Pizarro, but that he B o o K
might train his new soldiers to the use of arms, VL

O SMMMI — n^ i — * m**J

and accustom them to the discipline of a camp, 1547.
before he led them against a body of victorious
veterans. Pizarro, intoxicated with the suc-
cess which had hitherto accompanied his arms,
and elated with having again near a thousand
men under his command, refused to listen to
any terms, although Cepeda, together with
several of his officers, and even Carvajal him.
selfQ, gave it as their advice to close with the
president's offer of a general indemnity, and
the revocation of the obnoxious laws.0 Gasca
having tried in vain every expedient to avoid
imbruing his hands in the blood of his country-
men, began to move towards Cuzco, at the Dec. 29.
head of sixteen hundred men.

PIZARRO, confident of victory, suffered the Both par-
royalists to pass all the rivers which lie between p^ePfor
Guamanga and Cuzco without opposition, and batf|i8.
to advance within four leagues of that capital,
flattering himself that a defeat in such a situa-
tion as rendered escape impracticable would
at once terminate the war. He then marched
out to meet the enemy, and Carvajal chose his
ground, and made the disposition of the troops

n See NOTE XXVII.

• Zarate, lib. vii. c.6. Vega, p. 11. lib. v. c. 27.

256 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK with the discerning eye, and profound know-

.^ ^L_j ledge in the ar.t of war conspicuous in all its

1548. operations.* As the two armies moved for-

April 9.

wards slowly to the charge, the appearance of
each was singular. In that of Pizarro, com-
posed of men enriched with the spoils of the
most opulent country in America, every officer,
and almost all the private men, were clothed
in stuffs of silks, or brocade, embroidered with
gold and silver ; and their horses, their arms,
their standards, .were adorned with all the
pride of military pomp.p That of Gasca,
though not so splendid, exhibited what was no
less striking. He himself, accompanied by
the archbishop of Lima, the bishops of Quito
and Cuzco, and a great number of ecclesiastics,
marching along the lines, blessing the men, and
encouraging them to a resolute discharge of
their duty.

Pizarro WHEN both armies were just ready to en-

byShis gage> Cepeda set spurs to his horse, galloped

troops. of£ an(j surrendered himself to the president.

Garcilasso de la Vega, and other officers of note,

followed his example. The revolt of persons

in such high rank struck all with amazement.

The mutual confidence on which the union and

P Zarate, lib. vi. c. 11.

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

strength of armies depend, ceased at once. BOOK
Distrust and consternation spread from rank
to rank. Some silently slipped away, others
threw down their arms, the greatest number
went over to the royalists. Pizarro, Carvajal,
and some leaders, employed authority, threats,
and entreaties, to stop them, but in vain. In
less than half an hour, a body of men, which
might have decided the fate of the Peruvian
empire, was totally dispersed. Pizarro, seeing
all irretrievably lost, cried out in amazement
to a few officers who still faithfully adhered to
him, " What remains for us to do?" — " Let
us rush," replied one of them, " upon the
enemy's firmest battalion, and die like Ro-
mans." Dejected with such a reverse of for-
tune, he had not spirit to follow this soldierly
counsel, and with a tameness disgraceful to
his former fame, he surrendered to one of taken,
Gasca's officers. Carvajal, endeavouring to
escape, was overtaken and seized.

GASCA, happy in this bloodless victory, did and put to
not stain it with cruelty. Pizarro, Carvajal,
and a small number of the most distinguished
or notorious offenders, were punished capi-
tally. Pizarro was beheaded on the day after
he surrendered. He submitted to his fate
with a composed dignity, and seemed desirous
VOL. in. s

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

B o o K to atone by repentance for the crimes which
he had committed. The end of Carvajal was
1548. suitable to his life. On his trial he offered no
defence. When the sentence adjudging him
to be hanged was pronounced, he carelessly
replied, " One can die but once." During
the interval between the sentence and execu-
tion, he discovered no sign either of remorse
for the past, or of solicitude about the future ;
scoffing at all who visited him, in his usual sar-
castic vein of mirth, with the same quickness
of repartee and gross pleasantry as at any
other period of his life. Cepeda, more cri-
minal than either, ought to have shared the
same fate ; but the merit of having deserted
his associates at such a critical moment, and
with such decisive effect, saved him from im-
mediate punishment. He was sent, however, as
a prisoner to Spain, and died in confinement. 9

IN the minute detail which the contempo-
rary historians have given of the civil dissen-
sions that raged in Peru, with little interrup-
tion during ten years, many circumstances
occur so striking, and which indicate such an
uncommon state of manners, as to merit par-
ticular attention.

q Zarate, lib. vii, c. 6, 7, 8. Gomara, c, 185, 186.
Vega, p. 11. lib. v. c. SO, &c. Fernandez, lib. ii. c. 86, &c.
Herrera, dec. 8. iv. c. 14. &c.

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

' THOUGH the Spaniards who first invaded BOOK
Peru were of the lowest order in society, and L_Jrl^_J
the greater part of those who afterwards joined 1548.

_ No merce-

them were persons or desperate fortune, yet nary soi-
in all the bodies of troops brought into the
field by the different leaders who contended of Peru
for superiority, not one man acted as a hired
soldier, that follows his standard for pay.
Every adventurer in Peru considered himself
as a conqueror, entitled, by his services, to
an establishment in that country which had
been acquired by his valour. In the contests
between the rival chiefs, each chose his side
as he was directed by his own judgment or
affections. He joined his commander as a
companion of his fortune, and disdained to
degrade himself by receiving the wages of a
mercenary. It was to their sword, not to
pre-eminence in office, or nobility of birth,
that most of the leaders whom they followed
were indebted for their elevation 5 and each
of their adherents hoped, by the same means,
to open a way for himself to the possession of
power and wealth. r

BUT though the troops in Peru served with- Armies
out any regular pay, they were raised at im-
mense expense. Among men accustomed to

r Vega, p. 11. lib. iv. c. 38. 4-1.

s C2

260 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK divide the spoils of an opulent country, the
i. TL desire of obtaining wealth acquired incredible
1548. force. The ardour of pursuit augmented in
proportion to the hope of success. Where all
were intent on the same object, and under the
dominion of the same passion, there was but
one mode of gaining men, or of securing their
attachment. Officers of name and influence,
besides the promise of future establishments,
received in hand large gratuities from the
chief with whom they engaged. Gonzalo
Pizarro, in order to raise a thousand men, ad-
vanced five hundred thousand pesos. s Gasca
expended in levying the troops which he led
against Pizarro nine hundred thousand pesos. c
The distribution of property, bestowed as the
reward of services, was still more exorbitant,
amiini- Cepeda, as the recompense of his perfidy

mensc re- *

yards to and address, in persuading the court 01 royal
duals. audience to give the sanction of its autho-
rity to the usurped jurisdiction of Pizarro,
received a grant of lands which yielded an
annual income of a hundred and fifty thou-
sand pesos." Hinojosa, who, by his early
defection from Pizarro, and surrender of the
fleet to Gasca, decided the fate of Peru,
obtained a district of country affording

8 Fernandez, lib. ii. c. 54.

'* Zarate, Hb.vii. c. 10. Herrera, dec. 8. Ub. v. c. 7.

u Gomara, c. 164.

5

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 261

two hundred thousand pesos of yearly value. w BOOK
While such rewards were dealt out to the ,_ _^_ J
principal officers, with more than royal muni- 1548-
ficence, proportional shares were conferred
upon those of inferior rank.

SUCH a rapid change of fortune produced Their pro-

J. T • fusion and

its natural effects. It gave birth to new wants, luxury,
and new desires. Veterans, long accustomed
to hardship and toil, acquired of a sudden a
taste for profuse and inconsiderate dissipa-
tion, and indulged in all the excesses of mili-
tary licentiousness. The riot of low de-
bauchery occupied some ; a relish for expen-
sive luxuries spread among others. x The
meanest soldier in Peru would have thought
himself degraded by marching on foot ; and
at a time when the prices of horses in that
country were exorbitant, each insisted on
being furnished with one before he would take
the field. But though less patient under the
fatigue and hardships of service, they were
ready to face danger and death with as much '2

intrepidity as ever ; and animated by the
hope of new rewards, they never failed, on
the day of battle, to display all their ancient
valour.

w Vega, p. 11. lib. vi. c.3.

x Herrera, dec. 5. lib. ii. c.3. dec. 8. lib.viii. c. lOi

S 3

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

TOGETHER with their courage, they retained
all the ferocity by which they were originally
? 1548. distinguished. Civil discord never raged with
with which a more fell spirit than among the Spaniards in
tests were Peru. To all the passions which usually en-
camedon; venom contests among countrymen, avarice
was added, and rendered their enmity more
rancorous. Eagerness to seize the valuable
forfeitures expected upon the death of every
opponent, shut the door against mercy. To
be wealthy, was of itself sufficient to expose a
man to accusation, or to subject him to pu-
nishment. On the slightest suspicions, Pizarro
condemned many of the most opulent inha-
bitants in Peru to death. Carvajal, without
searching for any pretext to justify his cruelty,
cut off many more. The number of those
who suffered by the hands of the executioner,
was not much inferior to what fell in the
field7; and the greater part was condemned
without the formality of any legal trial.

and want THE violence with which the contending
parties treated their opponents was not accom-
panied with its usual attendants, attachment
and fidelity to those with whom they acted.
The ties of honour, which ought to be held
sacred among soldiers, and the principle of

See NOTE XXVIII.

12

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 268

integrity, interwoven as thoroughly in the BOOK
Spanish character as in that of any nation, ^_— T-^
seem to have been equally forgotten. Even 154*>
regard for decency, and the sense of shame,
were totally lost. During their dissensions,
there was hardly a Spaniard in Peru who did
not abandon the party which he had originally
espoused, betray the associates with whom he
had united, and violate the engagements un-
der which he had come. The viceroy Nug-
nez Vela was ruined by the treachery of
Cepeda and the other judges of the royal
audience, who were bound by the duties of
their function to have supported his authority.
The chief advisers and companions of Gon-
zalo Pizarro's revolt were the first to forsake
him, and submit to his enemies. His fleet
was given up to Gasca, by the man whom he
had singled out among his officers to intrust
with that important command. On the day
that was to decide his fate, an army of vete-
rans, in sight of the enemy, threw down their
arms without striking a blow, and deserted a
leader who had often conducted them to vic-
tory. Instances of such general and avowed
contempt of the principles and obligations

P which attach man to man, and bind them to-
7 r '

gether in social union, rarely occur in history.

It is only where men are far removed from the

seat of government, where the restraints of law

s 4

<264> HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK and order are little felt, where the prospect of
v ^*1 ; gain is unbounded, and where immense wealth
1548. may cover the crimes by which it is acquired,
that we can find any parallel to the levity, the
rapaciousness, the perfidy and corruption pre-
valent among the Spaniards in Peru.

Gasea de- QN the death of Pizarro, the malecontents in

VlSCS GUI**

pioyment every corner of Peru laid down their arms,

for his sol-

diers. and tranquillity seemed to be perfectly re-es-
tablished. But two very interesting objects still
remained to occupy the president's attention.
The one was to find immediately such employ-
ment for a multitude of turbulent and daring
adventurers with which the country was filled,
as might prevent them from exciting new
commotions. The other, to bestow proper
gratifications upon those to whose loyalty and
valour he had been indebted for his success.
The former of these was in some measure ac-
complished, by appointing Pedro de Valdivia
to prosecute the conquest of Chili ; and by
empowering Diego Centeno to undertake
the discovery of the vast regions bordering
on the river De la Plata. The reputation of
those leaders, together with the hopes of ac-
quiring wealth, and of rising to consequence in
some unexplored country, alluring many of the
most indigent and desperate soldiers to follow
their standards* drained off no inconsiderable

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 265

portion of that mutinous spirit which Gasca BOOK
dreaded. _ZL_,

1548.

THE latter was an affair of greater difficulty, His divi-

. , .sionof the

and to be adjusted with a more attentive and country
delicate hand. The repartimientos, or allot-
ments of lands and Indians which feU to be
distributed, in consequence of the death or for-
feiture of the former possessors, exceeded two
millions of pesos of yearly rent.55 Gasca, when
now absolute master of this immense property,
retained the same disinterested sentiments
which he had originally professed, and refused
to reserve the smallest portion of it for himself.
But the number of claimants was great ; and
whilst the vanity or avarice of every indivi-
dual fixed the value of his own services, and
estimated the recompense which he thought
due to him, the pretensions of each were so
extravagant, that it was impossible to satisfy
all. Gasca listened to them one by one, with
the most patient attention ; and that he might
have leisure to weigh the comparative merit
of their several claims with accuracy, he re-
tired, with the archbishop of Lima and a single
secretary, to a village twelve leagues from
Cuzco. There he spent several days in allot-
ting to each a district of lands and number

z Vega, p. 11. lib.vi. c. 4.

266

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

B o o K of Indians, in proportion to his idea of their
v_ ^ Past serv*ces and.future importance. But that
1548. he might get beyond the reach of the fierce
storm of clamour and rage, which he foresaw
would burst out on the publication of his de-
cree, notwithstanding the impartial equity with
which he had framed it, he set out for Lima,
leaving the instrument of partition sealed up^
with orders not to open it for some days after
his departure.

Aug. 24.
The dis-
content it
occasions.

THE indignation excited by publishing the
decree of partition was not less than Gasca had
expected. Vanity, avarice, emulation, envy,
shame, rage, and all the other passions which
most vehemently agitate the minds of men
when both their honour and their interest are
deeply affected, conspired in adding to its vio-
lence. It broke out with all the fury of military
insolence. Calumny, threats, and curses, were
poured out; openly upon the president. He
was accused of ingratitude, of partiality, and
of injustice. Among soldiers prompt to action,
such seditious discourse would have been soon
followed by deeds no less violent, and they
already began to turn their eyeS towards some
discontented leaders, expecting them to stand
forth in redress of their wrongs. By some
vigorous interpositions of government, a timely
check was given to this mutinous spirit, and

HISTORY OF AMERICA,

the danger of another civil war was averted for B o o K
the present.3 \_J^L«y

GASCA, however, perceiving that the flame 1549.
was suppressed rather than extinguished, la-
boured with the utmost assiduity to soothe the
malecontents, by bestowing large gratuities on ment>
some, by promising repartimientos, when they
.fell vacant, to others, and by caressing and flat-
tering all. But that the public security might
-rest on a foundation more stable than their
good affection, he endeavoured to strengthen
the hands of his successors in office, by re-
establishing the regular administration of jus-
tice in every part of the empire. He intro-
duced order and simplicity into the mode of
collecting the royal revenue. He issued regu-
lations concerning the treatment of the In-
dians, well calculated to protect them from
oppression, and to provide for their instruction
in the principles of religion, without depriving
the Spaniards of the benefit accruing from
their labour. Having now accomplished every
object of his mission, Gasca, longing to return 1550.
again to a private station, committed the
government of Peru to the court of audience,
and set out for Spain. As, during the anarchy

a Zarate, lib. vii. c. 9. Gomara, c. 187. Vega, p. II.
lib.vii. c. l,&c. Fernandez, p. 11. lib. 1. c. I, &c. Her_
rera, dec. 8. lib. iv. c. 17, Sec.

268 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK and turbulence of the four last years, there

i__^._; had been no remittance made of the royal re-

1550. venue, he carried with him thirteen hundred

Feb. 1.

and sets thousand pesos or public money, which the
Spain!" oeconomy and order of his administration en-
abled him to save, after paying all the expenses
of the war.

Hisrecep- HE was received in his native country with
" universal admiration of his abilities, and of
his virtue. Both were, indeed, highly con-
spicuous. Without army, or fleet, or public
funds ; with a train so simple, that only three
thousand ducats were expended in equipping
him b, he set out to oppose a formidable rebel-
lion. By his address and talents he supplied
all those defects, and seemed to create instru-
ments for executing his designs. He acquired
such a naval force, as gave him the command
of the sea. He raised a body of men able to
cope with the veteran bands which gave law
to Peru. He vanquished their leader, on
whose anns victory had hitherto attended, and
in place of anarchy and usurpation, he esta-
blished the government of laws, and the au-
thority of the rightful sovereign. But the
praise bestowed on his abilities was exceeded
by that which his virtue merited. After resid-

b Fernandez, lib. ii. c. 18.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 269

ing in a country where wealth presented al- B o o K
lurements which had seduced every person
who had hitherto possessed power there, he
returned from that trying station with inte-
grity not only untainted but unsuspected.
After distributing among his countrymen
possessions of greater extent and value than
had ever been in the disposal of a subject in
any age or nation, he himself remained in his
original state of poverty ; and at the very time
when he brought such a large recruit to the
royal treasury, he was obliged to apply by
petition for a small sum to discharge some
petty debts which he had contracted during
the course of his service/ Charles was not
insensible to such disinterested merit. Gasca
was received by him with the most distinguish-
ing marks of esteem, and being promoted to
the bishopric of Palencia, he passed the re-
mainder of his days in the tranquillity of
retirement, respected by his country, honour-
ed by his sovereign, and beloved by all.

NOTWITHSTANDING all Gasca's wise regula-
tions, the tranquillity of Peru was not of long
continuance. In a country where the autho-
rity of government had been almost forgotten
during the long prevalence of anarchy and
misrule, where there were disappointed leaders

c MS. penqg me.

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK ripe for revolt, and seditious soldiers ready to
follow them, it was not difficult to raise com-
bustion. Several successive insurrections de-
solated the country for some years. But as
those, though fierce, were only transient
storms, excited rather by the ambition. and
turbulence of particular men, than by general
or public motives, the detail of them is not the
object of this history. These commotions in
Peru, like every thing of extreme violence
either in the natural or political body, were
not of long duration, and by carrying off the
corrupted humours which had given rise to
the disorders, they contributed in the end to
strengthen the society which at first they
threatened to destroy. During their fierce
contests, several of the first invaders of Peru,
and many of those licentious adventurers whom
the fame of their success had allured thither,
fell by each other's hands. Each of the parties,
as they alternately prevailed in the struggle,
gradually cleared the country of a number of
turbulent spirits, by executing, proscribing,
or banishing their opponents. Men less enter-
prising, less desperate, and more accustomed
to move in the path of sober and peaceable
industry, settled in Peru ; and the royal au-
thority was gradually established as firmly
there as in other Spanish colonies.

THE

HISTORY

OF

AMERICA

BOOK VII.

AS the conquest of the two great empires BOOK
of Mexico and Peru forms the most VIL
splendid and interesting period in the history
of America, a view of their political institu-
tions, and a description of their national man-
ners, will exhibit the human species to the
contemplation of intelligent observers in a
very singular stage of its progress.*

WHEN compared with other parts of the Mexico
New World, Mexico and Peru may be consi-
dered as polished states. Instead of small,
independent, hostile tribes, struggling for
subsistence amidst woods and marshes, stran-

a See NOTE XXIX.

nea.

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK gers to industry and arts, unacquainted with
L V*L , subordination, atid almost without the ap-
pearance of regular government, we find
countries of great extent subjected to the do-
minion of one sovereign, the inhabitants col-
lected together in cities, the wisdom and fore-
sight of rulers employed in providing for the
maintenance and security of the people, the
empire of laws in some measure established, the
authority of religion recognised, many of the
arts essential to life brought to some degree of
maturity, and the dawn of such as are orna-
mental beginning to appear.

k

Theinfe- BUT if the comparison be made with the
thenations people of the ancient - continent, the inferi-
or the an- orjty of America in improvement, will be
tinent. conspicuous, and neither the Mexicans nor
Peruvians will be entitled to rank with those
nations which merit the name of civilised.
The people of both the great empires in Ame-
rica, like the rude tribes around them, were to-
tally unacquainted with the useful metals, and
the progress which they had made in extend-
ing their dominion over the animal creation
was inconsiderable. The Mexicans had gone
no farther than to tame and rear turkeys,
ducks, a species of small dogs, and rabbits.1*

b Herrera, dec. 11. lib. vii.c. 12.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 273

By this feeble essay of ingenuity, the means BOOK
of subsistence were rendered somewhat more vn
plentiful and secure, than when men depend
solely on hunting; but they had no idea of
attempting to subdue the more robust animals,
or of deriving any aid from their ministry in
carrying on works of labour. The Peruvians
seem to have neglected the inferior animals,
and had not rendered any of them domestic
except the duck; but they were more fortu-
nate in taming the Llama, an animal peculiar
to their country, of a form which bears some
resemblance to a deer, and some to a camel,
and is of a size somewhat larger than a sheep.
Under the protection of man, this species
multiplied greatly. Its wool furnished the
Peruvians with clothing, its flesh with food.
It was even employed as a beast of burden,
and carried a moderate load with much pa-
tience and docility.0 It was never used for
draught; and Jthe breed being confined to the
mountainous country, its service, if we may
may judge by incidents which occur in the
early Spanish writers, was not very extensive
among the Peruvians in their original state.

IN tracing the line by which nations proceed
towards civilisation, the discovery of the useful

c Vega, p. 1. lib. viii. c. 16. Zarate, lib. i. c. 14.
VOL. III. T

274 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK metals, and the acquisition of dominion over

. _^ the animal creation, have been marked as

steps of capital importance in their progress.
In our continent, long after men had attained
both, society continued in that state which is
denominated barbarous. Even with all that
command over nature which these confer,
many ages elapse, before industry becomes so
regular as to render subsistence secure, before
the arts which supply the wants and furnish
the accommodations of life are brought to
any considerable degree of perfection, and
before any idea is conceived of various insti-
tutions requisite in a well-ordered society.
The Mexicans and Peruvians, without know-
ledge of the useful metals, or the aid of do-
mestic animals, laboured under disadvantages
which must have greatly retarded their pro-
gress, and in their highest state of improve-
ment their power was so limited, and their
operations so feeble, that they can hardly be
considered as having advanced beyopd the

infancy of civil life.

\

view of AFTER this general observation concerning

tion^and1" tne most singular and distinguishing cireum-

"ichnersof stance in the state of both the great empires in

America, I shall endeavour to give such a -view

of the constitution and interior police of each,

as may enable us to ascertain their place in the

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

political scale, to allot them their proper BOOK
station between the rude tribes in the New ( VIL
World, and the polished states of the ancient,
and to determine how far they had risen above
the former, as well as how much they fell
below the latter.

MEXICO was first subjected to the Spanish imperfect

T> , • A '^^ -j. i infornaa-

crown. But our acquaintance with its laws tioncon-

and manners is not, from that circumstance,
more complete. What I have remarked con- Mexico-
cerning the defective and inaccurate informa-
tion on which we must rely with respect to the
condition and customs of the savage tribes in
America, may be applied likewise to our know-
ledge of the Mexican empire. Cortes, and the
rapacious adventurers who accompanied him,
had not leisure or capacity to enrich either
civil or natural history with new observations.
They undertook their expedition in quest of
one object, and seemed hardly to have turned
their eyes towards any other. Or, if during
some short interval of tranquillity, when the
occupations of war ceased, and the ardour of
plunder was suspended, the institutions and
manners of the people whom they had invaded,
drew their attention, the inquiries of illiterate
soldiers were conducted with so little sagacity,
and precision, that the accounts given by them

£76 HISTORY OF AMERICA,

B O O K of the policy and order established in the Mex-
VIL lean monarchy are superficial, confused, and
inexplicable. It is rather from incidents which
they relate occasionally, than from their own
deductions and remarks, that we are enabled to
form some idea of the genius and manners of
that people. The obscurity in which the ig-
norance of its conquerors involved the annals
of Mexico, was augmented by the superstition
of those who succeeded them. As the memory
of past events was preserved among the Mex-
icans by figures painted on skins, on cotton
cloth, on a kind of pasteboard, or on the bark
of trees, the early missionaries, unable to conv
prehend their meaning, and struck with their
uncouth forms, conceived -them to be monu-
ments of idolatry which ought to be destroyed,
in order to facilitate the conversion of the In-
dians. In obedience to an edict issued by Juan
de Zummaraga, a Franciscan monk, the first
bishop of Mexico, as many records of the an^
cient Mexican story as could be collected were
committed to the flames. In consequence of
this fanatical zeal of the monks who first
visited New Spain (which their successors soon
began to lament), whatever knowledge of re-
mote events such rude monuments contained
was almost entirely lost, and no information
remained concerning the ancient revolutions

HISTORY OF AMERICA, 277

and policy of the empire, but what was derived BOOK
from tradition, or from some fragments of their
historical paintings that escaped the barbarous
researches of Zummaraga/ From the expe-
rience of all nations it is manifest, that the
memory of past transactions can neither be
long preserved, nor be transmitted with any
fidelity, by tradition. The Mexican paint-
ings, which are supposed to have served as
annak of their -empire, are few in number,
and of ambiguous meaning. Thus, amidst the
uncertainty of the former, and the obscurity of
the latter, we must glean what intelligence can
be collected from the scanty materials scattered
in the Spanish writers.*

d Acosta, lib. vi. c.7. Torquem. Proem, lib.ii. lib.iii.
c.6. lib. xiv. c. 6.

* In the first edition, I observed that in consequence of
the destruction of the ancient Mexican paintings, occa-
sioned by the zeal of Zummaraga, whatever knowledge
they might have conveyed was entirely lost. Every candid
reader must have perceived that the expression was inaccu-
rate ; as in a few lines afterwards I mention some ancient
paintings to be still extant. M. Clavigero, not satisfied
with laying hold of this inaccuracy, which I corrected in
the subsequent editions, labours to render it more glaring,
by the manner in which he quotes the remaining part of the
sentence. He reprehends with great asperity the account
which I gave of the scanty materials for writing the ancient
history of Mexico. Vol. I. Account of writers, p. xxvi.
Vol. II. 380. My words, however, are almost the same with

T 3

278 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK ACCORDING to the account of the Mexicans
i._.-^- ..; themselves their empire was not of long du-
the8Mexf ration- Their country, as they relate, was
can mo- originally possessed, rather than peopled, by
small independent tribes, whose mode of life

those of Torquemada, who seems to have been better ac-
quainted with the ancient monuments of the Mexicans than
any Spanish author whose works I have seen. Lib. xiv. c. 6.
M. Clavigero himself gives a description of the destruction
of ancient paintings in almost the same terms I have used .
and mentions, as an additional reason of there being so
small a number of ancient paintings known to the Spa-
niards, that the natives have become so solicitous to pre-
serve and conceal them, that it is " difficult, if not impos-
" sible, to make them part with one of them." Vol. 1. 407.
II. 194. No point can be more ascertained than that few
of the Mexican historical paintings have been preserved.
Though several Spaniards have carried on inquiries into
the antiquities of the Mexican empire, no engravings from
Mexican paintings have been communicated to the public,
except those by Purchas, Gemelli Carreri, and Lorenzana.
It affords me some satisfaction, that in the course of my
researches I have discovered two collections of Mexican
paintings which were unknown to former inquirers. The
cut which I published is an exact copy of the original, and
gives no high idea of the progress which the Mexicans had
made in the art of painting. I cannot conjecture what
could induce M. Clavigero to express some dissatisfaction
with me for having published it without the same colours it
has in the original painting, p. xxix. He might have recol-
lected, that neither Purchas, nor Gemelli Carreri, nor Lo-
renzana, thought it necessary to colour the prints which
they have published, and they have never been censured
on that account. He may rest assured, that though the

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

and manners resembled those of the rudest BOOK
savages which we have described. But about
a period corresponding to the beginning of
the tenth century in the Christian aera, se-
veral tribes moved in successive migrations
from unknown regions towards the north and
north-west, and settled in different provinces
of Anahuac, the ancient name of New Spain.
These, more civilised than the original in-
habitants, began to form them to the arts of
social life. At length, towards the commence-
ment of the thirteenth century, the Mexicans,
a, people more polished than any of the for-
mer, advanced from the border of the Cali-
fornian gulf, and took possession of the plains
adjacent to the great lake near the centre of
the country. After residing there about iifty

colours in the paintings in the Imperial Library are re-
markably bright, they are laid on without art, and without
*' anjt of that regard to light and shade, or the rules of per-
spective," which M. Clavigero requires. Vol. II. 378. If
the public express any desire to have the seven paintings
still in my possession engraved, I am ready to communi-
cate them. The print published by Gemelli Carreri, of
the route of the ancient Mexicans when they travelled to-
wards the lake on which they built the capital of their em-
pire, (Churchill, Vol. IV. p. 48.1.) is the most finished mo-
nument of art brought from the New World, and yet a very
slight inspection of it will satisfy every one, that the annals
of a nation conveyed in this manner must be very meagre
and imperfect.

T 4

280 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK years they founded a town, since distinguished
L _T-'_; by the name of Mexico, which from humble
beginnings soon grew to be the most consider-
able city in the New World. The Mexicans,
long after they were established in their new
possessions, continued, like other martial tribes
in America, unacquainted with regal dominion,
and were governed in peace, and conducted
in war, by such as were entitled to pre-emi-
nence by their wisdom or their valour. But
among them, as in other states whose power
and territories become extensive, the supreme
authority centered at last in a single person ;
and when the Spaniards under Cortes invaded
the country, Montezuma was the ninth mo-
narch in order who had swayed the Mexican
sceptre, not by hereditary right, but by
election.

Very re- SUCH is the traditional tale of the Mexicans
concerning the progress of their own empire.
According to this, its duration was very stiort.
From the first migration of their parent tribe,
they can reckon little more than three hundred
years. From the establishment of monarchical
government, not above a hundred and thirty
years according to one account6, or a hundred

e Acost. Hist. lib. vii. c. 8, &c.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 281

and ninety-seven, according to another com- BOOK
putationf, had elapsed. If, on one hand, we
suppose the Mexican state to have been of
higher antiquity, and to have subsisted during
such a length of time as the Spanish accounts
of its civilisation would naturally lead us to
conclude, it is difficult to conceive how, among
a people who possessed the art of recording
events by pictures, and who considered it as
an essential part of their national education,
to teach their children to repeat the historical
songs which celebrated the exploits of their
ancestors2, the knowledge of past transactions
should be so slender and limited. If, on the
other hand, we adopt their own system with
respect to the antiquities of their nation, it is
no less difficult to account either for that im-
proved state of society, or for the extensive
dominion to which their empire had attained,
when first visited by the Spaniards. The in-
fancy of nations is so long, and, even when
every circumstance is favourable to their pro-
gress, they advance so slowly towards any ma-
turity of strength or policy, that the recent
origin of the Mexicans seems to be a strong
presumption of some exaggeration in the

f Purchas Pilgr.iii. p. 1068, &c.
s Herrera, dec. 3. lib. ii. c. 18.

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK splendid descriptions which have been given
of their government and manners.

which -^UT ^ *s no^ ^7 theory or conjectures that

provetheir history decides with regard to the state or cha-

progress in /»••'"• T i

civiiisa- racter of nations. It produces facts as the
foundation of every judgment which it ven-
tures to pronounce. In collecting those
which must regulate our opinion in the pre-
sent inquiry, some occur that suggest an idea
of considerable progress in civilisation in
the Mexican empire, and others which seem
to indicate that it had advanced but little
beyond the savage tribes around it. Both
shall be exhibited to the view of the reader,
that, from comparing them, he may deter-
mine on which side the evidence prepon-
derates.

The right IN the Mexican empire, the right of private

perty fully property was perfectly understood, and esta-

estabhsh- joshed jn fa fun extent. Among several sa-

vage tribes, we have seen, that the idea of a

title to the separate and exclusive possession of

any object was hardly known ; and that among

all it was extremely limited and ill-defined. But

in Mexico, where agriculture and industry had

made some progress, the distinction between

property in land and property in goods had

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 333

taken place. Both might be transferred from BOOK
one person to another by sale or barter ; both vn-
might descend by inheritance. Every person
who could be denominated a freeman had
property in land. This, however, they held
by various tenures. Some possessed it in full
right, and it descended to their heirs. The
title of others to their lands was derived from
the office or dignity which they enjoyed ; and
when deprived of the latter, they lost posses-
sion of the former. Both these modes of oc-
cupying land were deemed noble, and pecu-
liar to citizens of the highest class. The
tenure, by which the great body of the people
held their property, was very different. In
every district a certain quantity of land was
measured out in proportion to the number of
families. This was cultivated by the joint
labour of the whole ; its produce was deposited
in a common storehouse* and divided among
them according to their respective exigencies.
The members of the Calpullee, or associations,
could not alienate their share of the common
estate ; it was an indivisible permanent pro-
perty, destined for the support of their fami-
lies.11 In consequence of this distribution of
the territory of the state, every man had an

h Herrera, dec. 3. lib.iv. c. 15. Torquem. Mon. Ind,
lib. xiv. c. 7. Corita, MS.

HISTORY OF AMERICA,

BOOK interest in its welfare, and the happiness of"
L xn j the individual wa's connected with the public
security.

Thenum- ANOTHER striking circumstance, which dis-
greatness tinguishes the Mexican empire from those na-
citieTr ti°ns in America we have already described,
is the number and greatness of its cities.
While society continues in a rude state, the
wants of men are so few, and they stand so
little in need of mutual assistance, that their
inducements to crowd together are extremely
feeble. Their industry at the same time is
so imperfect, that it cannot secure subsistence
for any considerable number of families set-
tled in one spot. They live dispersed, at this
period, from choice as well as from necessity,
or at the utmost assemble in small hamlets on
the banks of the river which supplies them
with food, or on the border of some plain left
open by nature, or cleared by their own la-
bour. The Spaniards, accustomed to this mode
of habitation among all the savage tribes with
which they were hitherto acquainted, were
astonished, on entering New Spain, to find the
natives residing in towns of such extent as re-
sembled those of Europe. In the first fervour
of their admiration, they compared Zempo-
alla, though a town only of the second or third

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 285

size, to the cities of greatest note in their BOOK
own country. When, afterwards, they visited
in succession Tlascala, Cholula, Tacuba, Te-
zeuco, and Mexico itself, their amazement
increased so much, that it led them to convey
ideas of their magnitude and populousness
bordering on what is incredible. Even when
there is leisure for observation, and no interest
that leads to deceive, conjectural estimates of
the number of people in cities are extremely
loose, and usually much exaggerated. It is
not surprising, then, that Cortes and his com-
panions, little accustomed to such computa-
tions, and powerfully tempted to magnify, in
order to exalt the merit of their own disco-
veries and conquests, should have been be-
trayed into this common error, and have
raised their descriptions considerably above
truth. For this reason, some considerable
abatement ought to be made from their cal-
culations of the number of inhabitants in the
Mexican cities, and we may fix the standard of
their population much lower than they have
done ; but still they will appear to be cities of
such consequence, as are not to be found but
among people who have made some consider-
able progress in the arts of social life.1 From
their accounts, we can hardly suppose Mexico*

1 See NOTE XXX.

286 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK the capital of the empire, to have contained
fewer than sixty thousand inhabitants.

sions.

Thkm°of" f^HE seParati°n °f professions among the
profes- Mexicans is a symptom of improvement no
less remarkable. Arts, in the early ages of
society, are so few and so simple, that each
man is sufficiently master of them all, to gra-
tify every demand of his own limited desires.
The savage can form his bow, point his arrows,
rear his hut, and hollow his canoe, without
calling in the aid of any hand more skilful
than his own. Time must have augmented
the wants of men, and ripened their inge-
nuity, before the productions of art became
so complicated in their structure, or so curious
in their fabric, that a particular course of
education was requisite towards forming the
artificer to expertness in contrivance and work-
manship. In proportion as refinement spreads,
the distinction of professions increases, and
they branch out into more numerous and
minute subdivisions. Among the Mexicans,
this separation of the arts necessary in life had
taken place to a considerable extent. The
functions of the mason, the weaver, the gold-
smith, the painter, and of several other crafts,
were carried on by different persons. Each
was regularly instructed in his calling. To it

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 287

alone his industry was confined ; and, by as- BOO K
siduous application to one object, together witl

VII.

the persevering patience peculiar to Ameri-
cans-, their artisans attained to a degree of
neatness and perfection in work, far beyond
what could have been expected from the rude
tools which they employed. Their various
productions were brought into commerce ; and
by the exchange of them in the stated markets
held in the cities, not only were their mutual
wants supplied k, in such orderly intercourse as
characterises an improved state of society, but
their industry was daily rendered persevering
and inventive.

THE distinction of ranks established in the Thedis-

,,. • • , i ' * i i tiuction of

Mexican empire is the next circumstance that ranks.
merits attention. In surveying the savage
tribes of America, we observed, that conscious-
ness of equality, and impatience of subordin-
ation, are sentiments natural to man in the
infancy of civil life. During peace, the autho-
rity of a superior is hardly felt among them,
and even in war it is but little acknowledged.
Strangers to the idea of property, the difference
in condition resulting from the inequality of
it is unknown. Birth or titles confer no pre-

k Cortes Ilelat. ap. Ramus. iii. 239, £c. Gom. Cron,
c.79. Torquem. lib. xiii. c. 34. Herreva, dec. 2. lib.vii.
c. 15, &c.

£88 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK eminence ; it is only by personal merit and
VIL accomplishments' that distinction can be ac-
quired. The form of society was very dif-
ferent among the Mexicans. The great body
of the people was in a most humiliating state.
A considerable number, known by the name of
Mayeques, nearly resembling in condition
those peasants who, under various denomina-
tions, were considered, during the prevalence
of the feudal system, as instruments of labour
attached to the soil. The Mayeques could
not change their place of residence without
permission of the superior on whom they de-
pended. They were conveyed, together with
the lands on which they were settled, from
one proprietor to another ; and were bound
to cultivate the ground, and to perform se-
veral kinds of servile work.1 Others were
reduced to the lowest form of subjection,
that of domestic servitude, and felt the utmost
rigour of that wretched state. Their condi-
tion was held to be so vile, and their lives
deemed to be of so little value, that a person
who killed one of these slaves was not subjected
to any punishment."1 Even those considered as
freemen were treated by their haughty lords
as beings of an inferior species. The nobles,
possessed of ample territories, were divided

1 Herrera, dec. 3. lib. iv. c. 17: Corita, MS.
m Herrera, dec. 3. lib. iv, c. 7.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 289

into various classes, to each of which peculiar BOOK
titles of honour belonged. Some of these L VII>
titles, like their lands, descended from father
to son in perpetual succession. Others were
annexed to particular offices, or conferred
during life as marks of personal distinction.0
The monarch, exalted above all, enjoyed ex-
tensive power, and supreme dignity. Thus
the distinction of ranks was completely esta-
blished, in a line of regular subordination,
reaching from the highest to the lowest mem-
ber of the community. Each of these knew
what he could claim, and what he owed. The
people, who were not allowed to wear a dress
of the same fashion, or to dwell in houses of a
form similar to those of the nobles, accosted
them with the utmost submissive reverence.
In the presence of their sovereign, they durst
not lift their eyes from the ground, or look him
in the face.0 The nobles themselves, when
admitted to an audience of their sovereign,
entered barefooted, in mean garments, and, as
his slaves, paid him homage approaching to
adoration. This respect, due from inferiors to
those above them in rank, was prescribed with
such ceremonious accuracy, that it incorpo-
rated with the language, and influenced its

• Herrera, dec. 3. lib. iv. c. 15. Corita MS.
0 Herrera, dec. 3. lib. ii. c. 14?.
VOL. III. *tl

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK genius and idiom. The Mexican tongue
abounded in expressions of reverence and
courtesy. The style and appellations, used in
the intercourse between equals, would have
been so unbecoming in the mouth of one in a
lower sphere, when he accosted a person in
higher rank, as to be deemed an insult. p It is
only in societies, which time- and the institu-
tion of regular government have moulded into
form, that we find such an orderly arrangement
of men into different ranks, and such nice at-
tention paid to their various rights.

Their po- THE spirit of the Mexicans, thus familiar-
ised and bended to subordination, was pre-
pared for submitting to monarchical govern-
ment. But the description of their policy and
laws, by the Spaniards who overturned them,
are so inaccurate and contradictory, that it is
difficult to delineate the form of their consti-
tution with any precision. Sometimes they
represent the monarchs of Mexico as absolute,
deciding according to their pleasure with
respect to every operation of the state. On
other occasions, we discover the traces of
established customs and laws, framed in order
to circumscribe the power of the crown, and
we meet with rights and privileges of the

P See NOTE XXXI.

'4

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 291

nobles which seem to be opposed as barriers BOOK
against its encroachments. This appearance
of inconsistency has arisen from inattention
to the innovations of Montezuma upon the
Mexican policy. His aspiring ambition sub-
verted the original system of government, and
introduced a pure despotism. He disre-
garded the ancient laws, violated the privi*
leges held most sacred, and reduced his sub-
jects of every order to the level of slaves. q
The chiefs, or nobles of the first rank, sub-
mitted to the yoke with such reluctance, that,
from impatience to shake it off, and hope of
recovering their rights, many of them courted
the protection of Cortes, and joined a foreign
power against their domestic oppressor/ It is
not then under the dominion of Montezuma,
but under the government of his predecessors,
that we can discover what was the original
form and genius of Mexican policy. From
the foundation of the monarchy to the elec-
tion of Montezuma, it seems to have subsisted
with little variation, That body of citizens,
which may be distinguished by the name of
nobility, formed the chief and most respect-
able order in the state. They were of various
ranks, as has been already observed, and their

q Herrera, dec. 3. lib. ii. c. 14. Torquem. lib. ii. c. 69.
r Herrera, dec. 2. lib. v. c. 10, 11. Torquem, lib, iv»
e.49.

U 2

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK honours were acquired and transmitted in
vn- different mannefs. Their number seems to
have been great. According to an author
accustomed to examine with attention what
he relates, there were in the Mexican empire
thirty of this order, each of whom had in his
territories about an hundred thousand people,
and subordinate to these, there were about
three thousand nobles of a lower class.8 The
territories belonging to the chiefs of Tezeuco
and Tacuba were hardly inferior in extent
to those of the Mexican monarch. ' Each of
these possessed complete territorial jurisdic-
tion, and levied taxes from their own vassals.
But all followed the standard of Mexico in
war, serving with a number of men in pro-
portion to their domain, and most of them
paid tribute to its monarch as their superior
lord.

IN tracing those great lines of the Mexican
constitution, an image of feudal policy, in its
most rigid form, rises to view, and we discern its
three distinguishing characteristics, a nobility
possessing almost independent authority, apeo-
ple depressed intothelowest state of subjection,
and a king intrusted with theexecutive powerof

s Hcrrera, dec. 2. lib. viii. c. 12.

* Torquem. lib. ii. c. 57. Corita MS.

HISTORY OF AMERICA,. &93

the state. Its spirit and principles seem to have BOOK
operated in the New World in the same man- VII>
ner as in the ancient. The jurisdiction of the
crown was extremely limited. All real and
effective authority was retained by the Mexi-
can nobles in their own hands, and the shadow
of it only left to the King. Jealous to excess
of their own rights, they guarded with the
most vigilant anxiety against the encroach-
ments of their sovereigns. By a fundamental
law of the empire, it was provided that the
King should not determine concerning any
point of general importance without the ap-
probation of a council composed of the prime
nobility." Unless he obtained their consent,
he could not engage the nation in war, nor
could he dispose of the most considerable
branch of the public revenue at pleasure ; it
was appropriated to certain purposes from
which it could not be diverted by the regal
authority alone. w In order to secure full effect
to those constitutional restraints, the Mexican
nobles did not permit their crown to descend
by inheritance, but disposed of it by election.
The right of election seems to have been ori-
ginally vested in the whole body of nobility,
but was afterwards committed to six electors,

11 Herrera, dec. 3. lib. ii. c. 19. lib.iv. c.16. Corita MS.
w Herrera, dec* 3. lib. iv. c. 17.
u 3

294 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

B o o K of whom the chiefs of Tezeuco and Tacuba
v *• , were always two. From respect for the family
of their monarch s, the choice fell generally
upon some person sprung from it. But as the
activity and valour of their prince were of
greater moment to a people perpetually en-
gaged in war, than a strict adherence to the
order of birth, collaterals of mature age or of
distinguished rnerit were often preferred to
those who were nearer the throne in direct
descent. x To this maxim in their policy, the
Mexicans appear to be indebted for such a
succession of able and warlike princes, as raised
their empire in a short period to that extra-
ordinary height of power which it had attained
when Cortes landed in New Spain.

Power and WHILE the jurisdiction of the Mexican mo-
of their1* flarch continued to be limited, it is probable
monarchs. tjiat jt was exercised with little ostentation.

But as their authority became more extensive,
the splendour of their government augmented.
It was in this last state that the Spaniards be-
held it ; and struck with the appearance of
Montezuma's court, they describe its pomp at
great length, and with much admiration. The
number of his attendants, the order, the silence,

x Acosta, lib. vi. c. 2& Herrera, dec. 3. lib. ii. c. 13.
Corita MS.

HISTORY OF AMERICA, 295

and the reverence with which they served him ; B o o K

the extent of his royal mansion, the variety of ^_ ^ ,

its apartments allotted to different officers, and
the ostentation with which his grandeur was
displayed, whenever he permitted his subjects to
behold him, seem to resemble the magnificence
of the ancient monarchies in Asia, rather than
the simplicity of the infant states in the New
World.

BUT it was not in the mere parade of royalty Order of
that the Mexican potentates exhibited their vernment.
power ; they manifested it more beneficially in
the order and regularity with which they con-
ducted the internal administration and police
of their dominions. Complete jurisdiction,
civil as well as criminal, over its own imme-
diate vassals, was vested in the crown. Judges
were appointed for each department, and if we
may rely on the account which the Spanish
writers give of the maxims and laws upon
which they founded their decisions with respect
to the distribution of property and the punish-
ment of crimes, justice was administered in
trie Mexican empire with a degree of order
and equity resembling what takes place in
societies highly civilised.

THEIR attention in providing for the sup- ^rr°^ision
port of government was not less sagacious, support
u 4

296 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK Taxes were laid upon land, upon the acqui-
y ..-y-'._' sitions of industry, and upon commodities of
every kind exposed to sale in the public mar-
kets. These duties were considerable, but
not arbitrary or unequal. They were imposed
according to established rules, and each knew
what share of the common burden he had to
bear. As the use of money was unknown, all
the taxes were paid in kind, and thus not only
the natural productions of all the different pro-
vinces in the empire, but every species of ma-
nufacture, and every work of ingenuity and
art, were collected in the public store-houses.
From those the Emperor supplied his numerous
train of attendants in peace, and his armies
during war, with food, with clothes, and orna-
ments. People of inferior condition, neither
possessing land nor engaged in commerce, were
bound to the performance of various services.
By their stated labour the crown -lands were
cultivated, public works were carried on, and
the various houses belonging to the Emperor
were built and kept in repair.'

Their po- THE improved state of government among
the Mexicans is conspicuous, not only in points
essential to the being of a well-ordered society,

v Herrera, dec.2. lib.vii. c.13. dec. 3. lib. >v. c. 16, 17.
See NOTE XXXII.

HISTORY OF AMERICA, 297

tut in several "regulations of inferior conse. BOOK
quence with respect to police. The institution V]I
which I have already mentioned, of public
couriers, stationed at proper intervals, to con-
vey intelligence from one part of the empire
to the other, was a refinement in police not
introduced into any kingdom of Europe at that
period. The structure of the capital city in a
lake, with artificial dykes, and causeways of
great length, which served as avenues to it
from different quarters, erected in the waten
with no less ingenuity than labour, seems to be
ari idea that could not have occurred to any
but a civilised people. The same observation
may be applied to the structure of the aque-
ducts, or conduits, by which they conveyed a
stream of fresh water from a considerable dis-
tance, into the city, along one of the cause-
ways/ The appointment of a number of per-
sons to clean the streets, to light them by fires
kindled in different places, and to patrole as
watchmen during the night*, discovers a de-
gree of attention which even polished nations
are late in acquiring.

THE progress of the Mexicans in various Their arts.
arts, is considered as the most decisive proof

z See NOTE XXXIII.

a Herrera, dec. 2. lib. viii. c. 4. Torribio MS.

298 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK of their superior refinement. Cortes, and the
VII> early Spanish authors, describe this with rap-
ture, and maintain, that the most celebrated
European artists could not surpass or even
equ^i them in ingenuity and neatness of work-
manship. They represented men, animals, and
other objects, by such a disposition of various
coloured feathers, as is said to have produced
all the effects of light and shade, and to have
imitated nature with truth and delicacy. Their
ornaments of gold and silver have been de-
scribed to be of a fabric no less curious. But
in forming any idea, from general descriptions,
concerning the state of arts among nations im-
perfectly polished, we are extremely ready to
err. In examining the works of people whose
advances in improvement are nearly the same
with our own, we view them with a critical
and often with a jealous eye. Whereas, when
conscious of our own superiority, we survey
the arts of nations comparatively rude, we are
astonished at works executed by them under
such manifest disadvantages, and, in the warmth
of our admiration, are apt to represent them
as productions more finished than they really
are. To the influence of this illusion, without
supposing any intention to deceive, we may
impute the exaggeration of some Spanish au-
thors, in their accounts of the Mexican arts.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 399

IT is not from those descriptions, but from BOOK
considering such specimens of their arts as are _^^_
still preserved, that we must decide concerning
their degree of merit. As the ship in which
Cortes sent to Charles V. the most curious pro-
ductions of the Mexican artisans, which were
collected by the Spaniards when they first pil-
laged the empire, was taken by a French cor-
sair b, the remains of their ingenuity are less
numerous than those of the Peruvians. Whe-
ther any of their works with feathers, in imi-
tation of painting, be still extant in Spain, I
have not learned ; but many of their ornaments
in gold and silver, as well as various utensils
employed in common life, are deposited in the
magnificent cabinet of natural and artificial
productions, lately opened by the King of
Spain ; and I am informed by persons on whose
judgment and taste I can rely, that these
boasted efforts of their art are uncouth repre-
sentations of common objects, or very coarse
images of the human and some other forms,
destitute of grace and propriety.0 The justness
of these observations is confirmed by inspecting
the wooden prints and copper-plates of their
paintings, which have been published by va-

b Relac. de Cort. Ramus. iii. 294. F.
« Sec NOTE XXXIV.

300 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK rious authors. In them every figure of men, of
vn- quadrupeds, or birds, as well as every represent-
ation of inanimated nature, is extremely rude
and awkward.* The hardest Egyptian style,

* As a specimen of the spirit and style in which M. Cla-
vigero makes his strictures upon my History of America, I
shall publish his remarks upon this passage. " Thus far
" Robertson ; to whom we answer, first, That there is no
" reason to believe that those rude works were really
*' Mexican ; secondly, That neither do we know whether
" those persons in whose judgment he confides, may be
" persons fit to merit our faith, because we have observed
" that Robertson trusts frequently to the testimony of
" Gage, Correal, Ibagnez, and other such authors, who
" are entirely undeserving of credit ; thirdly, It is more
" probably that the arms of copper, believed by those in-
" telligent judges to be certainly Oriental, are really
" Mexican." Vol. 11.391. — When an author, not entirely
destitute of integrity or discernment, and who has some
solicitude about his own character, asserts that he received
his information concerning any particular point from per-
sons " on whose judgment and taste he can rely ;" a very
slender degree of candour, one should think, might induce
the reader to believe that he does not endeavour to impose
upon the public by an appeal to testimony altogether un-
worthy of credit. My information concerning the Mexi-
can works of art deposited in the King of Spain's cabi-
net, was received from the late Lord Grantham, ambas-
sador extraordinary from the court of London to that
of Madrid, and from Mr. Archdeacon Waddilove, chap-
Iain to the embassy ; and it was upon their authority that
I pronounced the coat of armour, mentioned in the note,
to be of Oriental fabric. As they were both at Madrid
in their public character when the first edition of the
History of America was published, I thought it impro-

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

stiff and imperfect as it was, is more elegant. BOOK
The scrawls of children delineate objects al- VIL
most as accurately.

BUT however low the Mexican paintings may
be ranked, when viewed merely as works of art,
a very different station belongs to them, when
considered as the records of their country, as
historical monuments of its policy and trans-
actions ; and they become curious as well as

per at that time to mention their names. Did their de-
cision concerning a matter of taste, or their testimony
concerning a point of fact, stand in need of confirmation, I
might produce the evidence of an intelligent traveller, who,
in describing the royal cabinet of Madrid, takes notice that
it contains " specimens of Mexican and Peruvian utensils,
vases, &c. in earthen- ware, wretched both in taste and ex-
ecution." Dillon's Travels through Spain, p. 77. As
Gage composed his Survey of New Spain with all the zeal
and acrimony of a new convert, I have paid little regard to
his testimony with respect to points relating to religion.
But as he resided in several provinces in New Spain, which
travellers seldom visit, and as he seems to have observed
their manners and laws with an intelligent eye, I have availed
myself of his information with respect to matters where reli-
gious opinion could have little influence. Correal I have sel-
dom quoted, and never rested upon his evidence alone. The
station in which Ibagnez was employed in America, as well
as the credit given to his veracity by printing his Regno
Jesuitico among the large collection of documents pub-
lished (as I believe by authority) at Madrid, A.D. 1767,
justifies me for appealing to hi* authority.

302 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK interesting objects of attention. The noblest
ri1- and most beneficial invention of which human
ingenuity can boast, is that of writing. But the
first essays of this art, which hath contributed
more than all others to the improvement of
the species, were very rude, and it advanced
towards perfection slowly, and by a gradual
progression. When the warrior, eager for
fame, wished to transmit some knowledge of
his exploits to succeeding ages ; when the gra-
titude of a people to their sovereign prompted
them to hand down an account of his beneficent
deeds to posterity ; the first method of accom-
plishing this, which seems to have occurred to
them, was to delineate, in the best manner they
could, figures representing the action of which
they were solicitous to preserve the memory.
Of this, which has very properly been called
picture-writing % we find traces among some of
the most savage tribes of America. When a
leader returns from the field, he strips a tree
of its bark, and with red paint scratches upon
it some uncouth figures which represent the
order of his march, the number of his follow-
ers, the enemy whom he attacked, the scalps
and captives which he brought home. To
those simple annals he trusts for renown, and

c Divine Legat. of Moses, iii. 73.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 303

soothes himself with hope that by their means BOOK
he shall receive praise from the warriors of fu-
ture times.b

COMPARED with those awkward essays of
their savage countrymen, the paintings of the
Mexicans may be considered as works of com-
position and design. They were not acquainted,
it is true, with any other method of recording
transactions, than that of delineating the ob-
jects which they wished to represent. But they
could exhibit a more complex series of events
in progressive order, and describe, by a proper
disposition of figures, the occurrences of a
king's reign from his accession to his death ;
the progress of an infant's education from its
birth until it attain to the years of maturity ;
the different recompenses and marks of dis-
tinction conferred upon warriors, in propor-
tion to the exploits which they had performed.
Some singular specimens of this picture-writ-
ing have been preserved, which are justly con-
sidered as the most curious monuments of art
brought from the New World. The most
valuable of these was published by Purchas in
sixty-six plates. It is divided into three parts.
The first contains the history of the Mexican

f Sir W. Johnson Philos. Transact, vol. Ixiii. p. 143.
Mem, de la Hontan. ii. 191. Lafitau Mceurs de Sauv. ii.43.

304 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK empire under its ten monarchs. The second

VII

is a tribute-roll, representing what each con-
quered town paid into the royal treasury.
The third is a code of their institutions, do-
mestic, political, and military. Another speci-
men of Mexican painting has been published
in thirty-two plates, by the present Archbishop
of Toledo. To both are annexed a full ex-
planation of what the figures were intended
to represent, which was obtained by the Spa-
niards from Indians well acquainted with their
own arts. The style of painting in all these
is the same. They represent things not words.
They exhibit images to the eye, not ideas to
the understanding. They may, therefore, be
considered as the earliest and most imperfect
essay of men in their progress towards disco-
vering the art of writing. The defects in this
mode of recording transactions must have been
early felt. To paint every occurrence was,
from its nature, a very tedious operation ; and
as affairs became more complicated, and events
multiplied in any society, its annals must have
swelled to an enormous bulk. Besides this, no
objects could be delineated but those of sense;
the conceptions of the mind had no corporeal
form, and as long as picture-writing could not
convey an idea of these, it must have been a
very imperfect art. The necessity of improving

16

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 305

it must have roused and sharpened invention, BOOK
and the human mind holding the same
course in the New World as in the Old, might
have advanced by the same successive steps,
first, from an actual picture to the plain hiero-
glyphic ; next to the allegorical symbol ; then
to the arbitrary character ; until, at length,
an alphabet of letters was discovered, capable
of expressing all the various combinations of
sound employed in speech. In the paintings
of the Mexicans we, accordingly, perceive,
that this progress was begun among them.
Upon an attentive inspection of the plates,
which I have mentioned, we may observe some
approach to the plain or simple hieroglyphic,
where some principal part or circumstance in
the subject is made to stand for the whole. In
the annals of their kings, published by Purchas,
the towns conquered by each are uniformly
represented in the same manner by a rude de-
lineation of a house ; but in order to point out
the particular towns which submitted to their
victorious arms, peculiar emblems, sometimes
natural objects, and sometimes artificial figures,
are employed. In the tribute-roll published
by the Archbishop of Toledo, the house,
which was properly the picture of the town,
is omitted, and the emblem alone is employed,
to represent it. The Mexicans seem even
to have made some advances beyond this,
VOL. in. x

306 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK towards the use of the more figurative and
fanciful hieroglyphic. In order to describe a
monarch, who had enlarged his dominions by
force of arms, they painted a target orna-
mented with darts, and placed it between him
and those towns which he subdued. But it is
only in one instance, the notation of numbers,
that we discern any attempt to exhibit ideas
which had no corporeal form. The Mexican
painters had invented artificial marks, or signs
of convention, for this purpose. By means of
these, they computed the years of their kings'
reigns, as well as the amount of tribute to be
paid into the royal treasury. The figure of a
Circle represented unit, and in small numbers,
the computation was made by repeating it.
Larger numbers were expressed by a peculiar
mark, and they had such as denoted all
integral numbers, from twenty to eight thou-
sand. The short duration of their empire pre-
vented the Mexicans from advancing farther
in that long course which conducts men from
the labour of delineating real objects, to the
simplicity and ease of alphabetic writing.
Their records, notwithstanding some dawn of
such ideas as might have led to a more perfect
style, can be considered as little more than a
species of picture-writing, so far improved as
to mark their superiority over the savage

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 307

tribes of America ; but still so defective, as to BOOK
prove that they had not proceeded far beyond
the first stage in that progress which must be
completed before any people can be ranked
among polished nations.5

THEIR mode of computing time may be Their
considered as a more decisive evidence of their imputing
progress in improvement. They divided their time*
year into eighteen months, each consisting of
twenty days, amounting in all to three hun-
dred and sixty. But as they observed that
the course of the sun was not completed in
that time, they added five days to the year.
These, which were properly intercalary days,
they termed supernumerary or waste ; and as
they did not belong to any month, no work was
done, and no sacred rite performed on them ;
they were devoted wholly to festivity and
pastime. ft This near approach to philosophical
accuracy is a remarkable proof that the Mex-
icans had bestowed some attention upon in-
quiries and speculations, to whicli men in a
very rude state never turn their thoughts. *

e See NOTE XXXV. * Acosta, lib. vi. c. 2.

* The Mexican mode of computing time, and every

other particular relating to their chronology, have been

considerably elucidated by M. Clavigero, Vol. I. 288. ;

Vol. II. 225, &c. The observations and theories of the

X 2

308 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK SUCH are the most striking particulars in

the manners and policy of the Mexicans,

Facts indi- which exhibit them to view as a people con-

smalfpro- siderably refined. But from other circum-

ciriilsa1- stances, one is apt to suspect that their cha-

tion. racter, and many of their institutions, did not

differ greatly from those of the other inha-

bitants of America.

^IKE ^e ruc*e trikes around them, the Mexi-
and fero- cans were incessantly engaged in war, and the
motives which prompted them to hostility
seem to have been the same. They fought,
in order to gratify their vengeance, by shed-
ding the blood of their enemies. In battle
they were chiefly intent on taking prisoners,
and it was. by the number of these that they
estimated the glory of victory. No captive
was ever ransomed or spared. All were sa-
crificed without mercy, and their flesh de-
voured with the same barbarous joy as among
the fiercest savages. On some occasions it
arose to even wilder excesses. Their princi-
pal warriors covered themselves with the skins
of the unhappy victims, and danced about

Mexicans concerning those subjects discover a greater
progress in speculative science than we find among any
people in the New World.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 309

the streets, boasting? of their own valour, and BOOK
exulting over their enemies.5 Even in their
civil institutions we discover traces of that bar-
barous dispositipn which their system of war
inspired. The four chief counsellors of the
empire were distinguished by titles, which
could have been assumed only by a people who
delighted in blood. k This ferocity of charac-
ter prevailed among all the nations of New
Spain. The Tlascalans, the people of Mecho-
acan, and other states at enmity with the Mex-
icans, delighted equally in war, and treated
their prisoners with the same cruelty. In pro-
portion as mankind combine in social union,
and live under the influence of equal laws and
regular policy, their manners soften, sentiments
of humanity arise, and the rights of the species
come to be understood. The fierceness of war
abates, and even while engaged in hostility,
men remember what they owe one to another.
The savage fights to destroy, the citizen to con-
quer. The former neither pities nor spares,
the latter has acquired sensibility which tem-
pers his rage. To this sensibility the Mexicans
seem to have been perfect strangers, and among
them war was carried on with so much of its
original barbarity,, that we cannot but suspect

1 Herrera, dec. 3. lib. ii. c. 15. Gom. Oon. c.217-
k See NOTE XXXVI.

x 3

310 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK their degree of civilisation to have been very
VIL imperfect.

Their fu- THEIR funeral rites were not less bloody

neral rites.

than those or the most savage tribes. On the
death of any distinguished personage, especially
of the Emperor, a certain number of his at-
tendants were chosen to accompany him to
the other world ; and those unfortunate vic-
tims were put to death without mercy, and
buried in the same tomb. l

Their agri- THOUGH their agriculture was more exten-

culture

imperfect, sive than that of the roving tribes who trusted
chiefly to their bow for food, it seems not to
have supplied them with such subsistence as
men require when engaged in efforts of active
industry. The Spaniards appear not to have
been struck with any superiority of the Mex-
icans over the other people of America in bodily
vigour. Both, according to their observation,
were of such a feeble frame as to be unable to
endure fatigue, and the strength of one Spa-
niard exceeded that of several Indians. This
they imputed to their scanty diet, on poor
fare, sufficient to preserve life, but not to give
firmness to their constitution. Such a remark
could hardly have been made with respect to

1 Herrera, dec. 3. lib. ii. c. 18. Gom. Cron. c. 202.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 31 1

any people furnished plentifully with the ne- BOO K
cessaries of life. The difficulty which Cortes L_ VIL ,
found in procuring subsistence for his small
body of soldiers, who were often constrained to
live on the spontaneous productions of the
earth, seems to confirm the remark of the Spa-
nish writers, and gives no high idea of the state
of cultivation in the Mexican empire. m

A PRACTICE that was universal in New Spain A farther

. proof of

appears to favour this opinion. The Mexican this,
women gave suck to their children for several
years, and during that time they did not co-
habit with their husbands/ This precaution
against a burdensome increase of progeny,
though necessary, as I have already observed,
among savages, who from the hardships of
their condition, and the precariousness of
their subsistence, find it impossible to rear a
numerous family, can hardly be supposed to
have continued among a people who lived at
ease and in abundance.

THE vast extent of the Mexican empire, Doubts
which has been considered, and with justice,
as the most decisive proof of a considerable
progress in regular government and police, is

™ Relat. ap. Ramus. iii. 306. A. Herrera, dec. 3. lib. iv.
c. 17. dec. 2. lib. vi. c.16.

n Gom. Cron. c. 208. Herrera, dec. 3. lib, iv. c. 16.
X 4

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK one of those facts in the history of the New
World which seems to have been admitted
without due examination or sufficient evidence.
The Spanish historians, in order to magnify
the valour of their countrymen, are accustomed
to represent the dominion of Montezuma as
stretching over all the provinces of New Spain
from the Northern to the Southern Ocean.
But a great part of the mountainous country
was possessed by the Otomies, a fierce uncivi-
lised people, who seem to have been the resi-
due of the original inhabitants. The provinces
towards the north and west of Mexico were
occupied by the Chicheniecas, and other tribes
of hunters. None of these recognised the
Mexican monarch as their superior. Even in
the interior and more level country, there
were several cities and provinces which had
never submitted to the Mexican yoke. Tlas-
cala, though only twenty-one leagues from the
capital of the empire, was an independent and
hostile republic. Cholula, though still nearer,
had been subjected only a short time before
the arrival of the Spaniards. Tepeaca, at the
distance of thirty leagues from Mexico, seems
to have been a separate state, governed by
its own laws.0 Mechoacan, the frontier of
which extended within forty leagues of Mexico^

0 Herrera, dec. 3. lib. x. c. 15. 21 . B. Diaz. c. 130.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. SIS

was a powerful kingdom, remarkable for its B o o K
implacable enmity to the Mexican name.p vn*
By these hostile powers the Mexican empire
was circumscribed on every quarter, and the
high ideas which we are apt to form of it
from the description of the Spanish historians,
should be considerably moderated.

IN consequence of this independence of Little in-
several states in New Spain upon the Mexican among its
empire, there was not any considerable inter-
course between its various provinces. Even
in the interior country not far distant from
the capital, there seem to have been no roads
to facilitate the communication of one district
with another; and when the Spaniards first
attempted to penetrate into its several pro-
vinces, they had to open their way through
forests and marshes. q Cortes, in his adven-
turous march from Mexico to Honduras in
1525, met with obstructions, and endured
hardships little inferior to those with which he
must have struggled in the most uncivilised
regions of America. In some places he could
hardly force a passage through impervious
woods, and plains overflowed with water. In
others he found so little cultivation, that his

p Herrera, dec. 3. lib. ii. c. 10.
q B. Diaz. c. 166. 176.

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK troops were frequently in danger of perishing
^ by famine. Such facts correspond ill with the
pompous description which the Spanish writers
give of Mexican police and industry, and con-
vey an idea of a country nearly similar to that
possessed by the Indian tribes in North Ame-
rica. Here and there a treading or a war-
path, as they are called in North America, led
from one settlement to another1", but generally
there appeared no sign of any established
communication, few marks of industry, and
fewer monuments of art.

Further A PROOF of this imperfection in their com-
this? C mercial intercourse no less striking is their
want of money, or some universal standard by
which to estimate the value of commodities.
The discovery of this is among the steps of
greatest consequence in the progress of na-
tions. Until it has been made, all their trans-
actions must be so awkward, so operose, and
so limited, that we may boldly pronounce
that they have advanced but a little way in
their career. The invention of such a com-
mercial standard is of such high antiquity in
our hemisphere, and rises so far beyond the
aera of authentic history, as to appear almost
coeval with the existence of society. The

r Herrera, dec. 3. lib. vii. c. 8.

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

precious metals seem to have been early em- B o o K
ployed for this purpose, and from their per-
manent value, their divisibility, and many
other qualities, they are better adapted to
serve as a common standard than any other
substance of which nature has given us the
command. But in the New World, where
these metals abound most, this use of them
was not known. The exigences of rude
tribes, or of monarchies imperfectly civilised,
did not call for it. All their commercial in-
tercourse was carried on by barter, and their
ignorance of any common standard by which
to facilitate that exchange of commodities
which contributes so much towards the com-
fort of life, may be justly mentioned as an
evidence of the infant state of their policy.
But even in the New World the inconvenience
of wanting some general instrument of com-
merce began to be felt, and some efforts were
making towards supplying that defect. The
Mexicans, among whom the number and great-
ness of their cities gave rise to a more extended
commerce than in any other part of America,
had begun to employ a common standard of
value, which rendered smaller transactions
much more easy. As chocolate was the fa-
vourite drink of persons in every rank of life,
the nuts or almonds of cacao, of which it is
composed, were of such universal consumption,

516 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK that, in their stated markets, these were will-
ingly received- in return for commodities of
small price. Thus they came to be considered
as the instrument of commerce, and the value
of what one wished to dispose of was estimated
by the number of nuts of the cacao, which he
might expect in exchange for it. This seems
to be the utmost length which the Americans
had advanced towards the discovery of any
expedient for supplying the use of money.
And if the want of it is to be held, on one
hand, as a proof of their barbarity, this expe-
dient for supplying that want should be ad-
mitted, on the other, as an evidence no less
satisfying, of some progress which the Mexi-
cans had made in refinement and civilisation,
beyond the savage tribes around them.

Doubts IN such a rude state were many of the Hex-
ing the"" ican provinces when first visited by their con-
theircU querors. Even their cities, extensive and
*"*> populous as they were, seem more fit to be
the habitation of men just emerging from
barbarity, than the residence of a polished
people. The description of Tlascala nearly re-
sembles that of an Indian village. A number
of low straggling huts, scattered about ir-
regularly, according to the caprice of each pro-
prietor, built with turf and stone and thatched
with reeds, without any light but what they

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 317

received by a door, so low that it could not BOOK
be entered upright.8 In Mexico, though, from
the peculiarity of its situation, the disposition
of the houses was more orderly, the structure
of the greater part was equally mean. Nor
does the fabric of their temples, and other Temple*>
public edifices, appear to have been such as en-
titled them to the high praise bestowed upon
them by many Spanish authors. As far as one
can gather from their obscure and inaccurate
descriptions, the great temple of Mexico, the
most famous in New Spain> which has been re-
presented as a magnificent building, raised to
such a height, that the ascent to it was by a
flight of a hundred and fourteen steps, was
a solid mass of earth of a square form, faced
partly with stone. Its base on each side ex-
tended ninety feet, and decreasing gradually
as it advanced in height, it terminated in a
quadrangle of about thirty feet, where were
placed a shrine of the deity, and two altars
on which the victims were sacrificed.1 All the
other celebrated temples of New Spain exactly
resembled that of Mexico." Such structures
convey no high idea of progress in art and in-
genuity ; and one can hardly conceive that
a form more rude and simple could have oc-

8 Herrera, dec. 2. lib.vi. c. 12.
1 Herrera, dec. 2. lib. vii. c. 17.
u See NOTE XXXVII.

318 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK curred to a nation in its first efforts towards
m erecting any great work.

and other GREATER skill and ingenuity were displayed,
buildings. ^ we mav believe the Spanish historians, in the
houses of the Emperor, and in those of the
principal nobility. There, some elegance of
design was visible, and a commodious arrange-
ment of the apartments was attended to. But
if buildings corresponding to such descriptions
had ever existed in the Mexican cities, it is
probable that some remains of them would still
be visible. From the manner in which Cortes
conducted the siege of Mexico, we can indeed
easily account for the total destruction of what-
ever had any appearance of splendour in that
capital. But as only two centuries and a half
have elapsed since the conquest of New Spain,
it seems altogether incredible that in a period
so short, every vestige of this boasted elegance
and grandeur should have disappeared ; and
that in the other cities, particularly in those
which did not suffer by the destructive hand
of the conquerors, there are any ruins, which
can be considered as monuments of their an-
cient magnificence.

EVEN in a village of the rudest Indians, there
are buildings of greater extent and elevation
common dwelling-houses. Such as are

14

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 319

destined for holding the council of the tribe, BOOK
and in which all assemble on occasions of public
festivity, may be called stately edifices, when
compared with the rest. As among the Mex-
icans the distinction of ranks was established,
and property was unequally divided, the num-
ber of distinguished structures in their towns
would of course be greater than in other parts
of America. But these seem not to have been
either so solid or magnificent as to merit the
pompous epithets which some Spanish authors
employ in describing them. It is probable,
that, though more ornamented, and built on
a larger scale, they were erected with the same
slight materials which the Indians employed in
their common buildings w, and Time, in a space
much less than two hundred and fifty years,
may have swept away all remains of them.x

FROM this enumeration of facts, it seems,
upon the whole, to be evident, that the state of
society in Mexico was considerably advanced
beyond that of the savage tribes which we have
delineated. But it is no less manifest, that with
to many particulars, the Spanish ac-
counts of their progress appear to be highly
embellished. There is not a more frequent or a
more fertile source of deception in describing

w See NOTE XXXVIII. * See NOTE XXXIX.

320 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK the manners and arts of savage nations, or of
VIIt such as are imperfectly civilised, than that of
applying to them the names and phrases appro-
priated to the institutions and refinements of
polished life. When the leader of a small tribe,
or the head of a rude community, is dignified
with the name of King or Emperor, the place
of his residence can receive no other name but
that of his palace ; and whatever his attendants
may be, they must be called his court. Under
such appellations they acquire, in our estima-
tion, an importance and dignity which does
not belong to them. The illusion spreads,
and giving a false colour to every part of the
narrative, the imagination is so much carried
away with the resemblance, that it becomes
difficult to discern objects as they really are.
The Spaniards, when they first touched on the
Mexican coast, were so much struck with the
appearance of attainments in policy and in
the arts of life, far superior to those of the
rude tribes with which they were hitherto
acquainted, that they fancied they had at
length discovered a civilised people in the
New World. This comparison between the
people of Mexico and their uncultivated
neighbours, they appear to have kept con-
stantly in view, and observing with admi-
ration many things which marked the pre-
eminence of the former, they employ in de-

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

scribing their imperfect policy and infant arts, BOOK
such terms as are applicable to the institutions vn"
of men far beyond them in improvement.
Both these circumstances concur in detracting
from the credit due to the descriptions of
Mexican manners by the early Spanish writers.
By drawing a parallel between them and those
of people so much less civilized, they raised
their own ideas too high. By their mode of
describing them, they conveyed ideas to others
no less exalted above truth. Later writers
have adopted the style of the original histo-
rians, and improved upon it. The colours
with which De Solis delineates the character
and describes the actions of Montezuma, the
splendor of his court, the laws and policy of
his empire, are the same that he must have
employed in exhibiting to view the monarch
and institutions of an highly polished people.

BUT though we may admit, that the warm
imagination of the Spanish writers has added
some embellishment to their descriptions, this
will not justify the decisive and peremptory
tone with which several authors pronounce
fill their accounts of the Mexican power, po-
licy, and laws, to be the fictions of men who
wished to deceive, or who delighted in the
marvellous. There are few historical facts that
can be ascertained by evidence more unex-

VQL. Ill Y

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK ceptionable than may be produced in support
of the material articles, in the description of
the Mexican constitution and manners. Eye-
witnesses relate what they beheld. Men who
had resided among the Mexicans, both before
and after the conquest, describe institutions
and customs which were familiar to them.
Persons of professions so different that objects
must have presented themselves to their view
tinder every various aspect ; soldiers, priests,
and lawyers, all concur in their testimony.
Had Cortes ventured to impose upon his so*
vereign, by exhibiting to him a picture of
imaginary manners, there wanted not ene-
mies and rivals who were qualified to detect
his deceit, and who would have rejoiced in
exposing it. But according to the just re-
mark of an author, whose ingenuity has
illustrated, and whose eloquence has adorned,
the history of America7, this supposition is in
itself as improbable as the attempt would have
been audacious. Who among the destroyers
of this great empire was so enlightened by
science, or so attentive to the progress and
operations of men in social life, as to frame
a fictitious system of policy so well combined
and so consistent, as that which they delineate,
in their accounts of the Mexican government ?

y M. 1' Abbe Raynal Hist, philos. et polit. &c. fii. 127.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 326

Where could they have borrowed the idea of B 0 O K
many institutions in legislation and police, to
which, at that period, there was nothing pa-
rallel in the nations with which they were ac-
quainted ? There was not, at the beginning of
the sixteenth century, a regular establishment
of posts for conveying intelligence to the so-
vereign of any kingdom in Europe. The same
observation will apply to what the Spaniards
relate, with respect to the structure of the
city of Mexico, the regulations concerning
its police, and various laws established for the
administration of justice, or securing the hap-
piness of the community. Whoever is ac-
customed to contemplate the progress of na-
tions, will often, at very early stages of it,
discover a premature and unexpected dawn of
those ideas, which gave rise to institutions that
are the pride and ornament of its most advanced
period. Even in a state as imperfectly polished
as the Mexican empire, the happy genius of
some sagacious observer, excited or aided by
circumstances unknown to us, may have in-
troduced institutions which are seldom found
but in societies highly refined. But it is
almost impossible that the illiterate conquerors
of the New World should have formed in any
one instance a conception of customs and laws
beyond the standard of improvement in their
own age and country. Or if Cortes had been

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK capable of this, what inducement had those by
^^ ^^ whom he was 'superseded to continue the de-
ception? Why should Corita, or Motolinea,
or Acosta, have amused their sovereign or their
fellow-citizens with a tale purely fabulous ?

ofetjfelor IN one particular, however, the guides
Mexicans. whom we must follow have represented the
Mexicans to be more barbarous, perhaps, than
they really were. Their religious tenets, and
the rites of their worship, are described by
them as wild and cruel in an extreme degree.
Religion, which occupies no considerable place
in the thoughts of a savage, whose conceptions
of any superior power are obscure, and his
sacred rites few as well as simple, was formed,
among the Mexicans, into a regular system,
with its complete train of priests, temples,
victims, and festivals. This, of itself, is a
clear proof that the state of the Mexicans
was very different from that of the ruder
American tribes. But from the extravagance
of their religious notions, or the barbarity of
their rites, no conclusion can be drawn with
certainty concerning the degree of their
civilisation. For nations, long after their
ideas begin to enlarge, and their manners to re-
fine, adhere to systems of superstition founded
on the crude conceptions of early ages.
From the genius of the Mexican religion we

VII.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 325

may, however, form a most just conclusion with BOOK
respect to its influence upon the character of
the people. The aspect of superstition in
Mexico was gloomy and atrocious. Its divi-
nities were clothed with terror, and delighted
in vengeance. They were exhibited to the
people under detestable forms, which created
horror. The figures of serpents, of tigers,
and of other destructive animals, decorated
their temples. Fear was the only principle
that inspired their votaries. Fasts, mortifica-
tions, and penances, all rigid, and many of
them excruciating to an extreme degree, were
the means employed to appease the wrath of
their gods, and the Mexicans never approached
their altars without sprinkling them with blood
drawn from their own bodies. But, of all
offerings, human sacrifices were, deemed the
most acceptable. This religious belief, min-
gling with the implacable spirit of vengeance,
and adding new force to it, every captive
taken in war was brought to the temple, was
devoted as a victim to the deity, and sacri-
ficed with rites no less solemn than cruel.2
The heart and head were the portion conse-
crated to the gods ; the warrior, by whose
prowess the prisoner had been seized, carried

z Cort. Relat. ap. Ramus, iii. 24-0, &c. B. Diaz, c. 82.
Acosta, lib. v. c. 13, &c. Herrera, dec. 3. lib. ii. c.15*
&c. GomaraCron. c.80, &c. See NOTE XL.
Y 3

326 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

B o o K off the body to feast upon it with his friends.

V _T-' , Under the impression of ideas so dreary and
terrible, and accustomed daily to scenes of
bloodshed rendered awful by religion, the
heart of man must harden and be steeled to
every sentiment of humanity. The spirit of the
Mexicans was accordingly unfeeling, and the
genius of their religion so far counterbalanced
the influence of policy and arts, that notwith-
standing their progress in both, their manners,
instead of softening, became more fierce. To
what circumstances it was owing that super-
stition assumed such a dreadful form among
the Mexicans, we have not sufficient know
ledge of their history to determine. But its
influence is visible, and produced an effect
that is singular in the history of the human
species. The manners of the people in the
New World who had made the greatest pro-
gress in the arts of policy, were, in several
respects, the most ferocious, and the barbarity
of some of their customs exceeded even those
of the savage state.

Preten- THE empire of Peru boasts of an higher an-
Pemtoan tiquity than that of Mexico. According to
high anti- tjie traditionary accounts collected by the

quity * *

Spaniards, it had subsisted four hundred years,

uncertain, under twelve successive monarchs. But the

knowledge of their ancient story, which the

10

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 327

Peruvians could communicate to their con- BOOK
querors, must have been both imperfect and ,_^!^
uncertain/ Like the other American nations,
they were totally unacquainted with the art of
writing, and destitute of the only means by
which the memory of past transactions can be
preserved with any degree of accuracy. Even
among people to whom the use of letters is
known, the aera where the authenticity of his-
tory commences is much posterior to the in-
troduction of writing. That noble invention
continued, every where, to be long subservient
to the common business and wants of life, be-
fore it was employed in recording events, with
a view of conveying information from one
age to another. But in no country did ever
traditioir ^lone carry down historical know-
ledge, in any full continued stream, during a
period of half the length that the monarchy of
Peru is said to have subsisted.

THE Quipos, or knots on cords of different Defects in
colours, which are celebrated by authors fond cords by
of the marvellous, as if they had been regular
annals of the empire, imperfectly supplied the
place of writing. According to the obscure
description of them by Acostab, which Garci-
lasso de la Vega has adopted with little varia-
tion and no improvement, the quipos seem to

See NOTE XLI. b Hist. lib. vi. e.8.

Y 4

HISTORY OF AMERICA,
BOOK have been a device for rendering calculation

VII

more expeditious and accurate. By the va-
rious colours different objects were denoted,
and by each knot a distinct number. Thus
an account was taken, and a kind of register
kept of the inhabitants in each province, or
of the several productions collected there for
public use. But as by these knots, however,
varied or combined, no moral or abstract idea,
no operation or quality of the mind could be
represented, they contributed little towards
preserving the memory of ancient events and
institutions. By the Mexican paintings and
symbols, rude as they were, more knowledge
of remote transactions seems to have been
conveyed than the Peruvians could derive
from their boasted quipos. Had the latter
been even of more extensive use, and better
adapted to supply the place of written re-
cords, they perished so generally, together
with other monuments of Peruvian inge-
nuity, in the wreck occasioned by the Spa-
nish conquest, and the civil wars subsequent
to it, that no accession of light or know-
ledge comes from them. All the zeal of Gar-
cilasso de la Vega, for the honour of that race
of monarchs from whom he descended, all
the industry of his researches, and the superior
advantages with which he carried them on,
opened no source of information unknown to

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

the Spanish authors who wrote before him. In BOOK
his Royal Commentaries, he confines himself to L V*J'_>
illustrate what they had related concerning the
antiquities and institutions of Peru ° ; and his
illustrations, like their accounts, are derived
entirely from the traditionary tales current
among his countrymen.

VERY little credit then is due to the minute
details which have been given of the exploits,
the battles, the conquests, and private cha-
racter of the early Peruvian monarchs. We
can rest upon nothing in their story, as au-
thentic, but a few facts so interwoven in the
system of their religion and policy, as pre-
served the memory of them from being lost ;
and upon the description of such customs and
institutions as continued in force at the time
of the conquest, and fell under the immediate
observation of the Spaniards. By attending
carefully to these, and endeavouring to sepa-
rate them from what appears to be fabulous,
or of doubtful authority, I have laboured to
form an idea of the Peruvian government and
manners.

THE people of Peru, as I have already ob- Origin of
served d, had not advanced beyond the rudest policy!™
form of savage life, when Manco Capac, and

c Lib. 1 ,c. 10. d Book vi. p. 126, &C.

330 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK his consort Mama Ocollo, appeared to instruct
and civilise them. Who these extraordinary
personages were, whether they imported their
system of legislation and knowledge of arts
from some country more improved, or, if na-
tives of Peru, how they acquired ideas so far
superior to those of the people whom they ad-
dressed, are circumstances with respect to
which the Peruvian tradition conveys no in-
formation. Manco Capac and his consort,
taking advantage of the propensity in the Pe-
ruvians to superstition, and particularly of
their veneration for the Sun, pretended to be
children of that glorious luminary, and to de-
liver their instructions in his name, and by au-
thority from him. The multitude listened
and believed. What reformation in policy
and manners the Peruvians ascribe to those
founders of their empire, and how, from the
precepts of the Inca and his consort, their an-
cestors gradually acquired some knowledge of
those arts, and some relish for that industry,
which render subsistence secure and life com-
fortable, hath been formerly related. Those
blessings were originally confined within nar-
row precincts ; but in process of time, the suc-
cessors of Manco Capac extended their domi-
nion over all the regions that stretch to the
west of the Andes from Chili to Quito, estab-
lishing in every province their peculiar policy
and religious institutions.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 33}

THE most singular and striking circum- BOOK
stance in the Peruvian government, is the in- . VIL
fluence of religion upon its genius and laws. Founded
Religious ideas make such a feeble impression gion.
on the mind of a savage, that their effect upon
his sentiments and manners is hardly percept-
ible. Among the Mexicans, religion, reduced
into a regular system, and holding a consider-
able place in their public institutions, operated
with conspicuous efficacy in forming the pecu-
liar character of that people. But in Peru,
the whole system of policy was founded on
religion. The Inca appeared not only as a
legislator, but as the messenger of Heaven.
His precepts were received not merely as the
injunctions of a superior, but as the mandates
of the Deity. His race was to be held sacred \
and in order to preserve it distinct, without
being polluted by any mixture of less noble
blood, the sons of Manco Capac married their
own sisters, and no person was ever admitted
to the throne who could not claim it by such
a pure descent. To those Children of the Sun,
for that was the appellation bestowed upon all
the offspring of the first Inca, the people looked
up with the reverence due to beings of a su-
perior order. They were deemed to be under
the immediate protection of the deity from
whom they issued, and by him every order of
the reigning Inca was supposed to be dictated.

332 HISTOKY OF AMERICA.

BOOK FROM those ideas two consequences resulted.
t_V^l j The authority of. the Inca was unlimited and
Two re- absolute, in the most extensive meaning of the
effects of words. Whenever the decrees ofVa prince are
considered as the commands of the Divinity, it
is not only an act of rebellion, but of impiety,
The abso- to dispute or oppose his will. Obedience be-
lrfthPeOWer comes a duty of religion ; and as it would be
Inca. profane to control a monarch who is believed
to be under the guidance of Heaven, and pre-
sumptuous to advise him, nothing remains but
to submit with implicit respect. This must
necessarily be the effect of every government
established on pretensions of intercourse with
superior powers. Such accordingly was the
blind submission which the Peruvians yielded
to their sovereigns. The persons of highest
rank and greatest power in their dominions
acknowledged them to be of a more exalted
nature ; and in testimony of this, when admit-
ted into their presence, they entered with a
burden upon their shoulders, as an emblem of
their servitude, and willingness to bear what-
ever the Inca was pleased to impose. Among
their subjects, force was not requisite to second
their commands. Every officer intrusted with
the execution of them was revered, and, ac-
cording to the account6 of an intelligent ob-

e Zarate, lib.i. c.13.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 333

server of Peruvian manners, he might proceed BOO K
alone from one extremity of the empire to an- VIL
other without meeting opposition ; for, on
producing a* fringe from the royal Borla, an
ornament of the head peculiar to the reigning
Inca, the lives and fortunes of the people were
at his disposal.

ANOTHER consequence of establishing go- All crimes
vernment in Peru on the foundation of religion capkaUy.
was, that all crimes were punished capitally.
They were not considered as transgressions of
human laws, but as insults offered to the Deity.
Each, without any distinction between such
as were slight and such as were atrocious,
called for vengeance, and could be expiated
only by the blood of the offender. Con-
sonantly to the same ideas, punishment fol-
lowed the trespass with inevitable certainty,
because an offence against Heaven was deemed
such an high enormity as could not be par-
doned. f Among a people of corrupted mo-
rals, maxims of jurisprudence so severe and
unrelenting, by rendering men ferocious and
desperate, would be more apt to multiply
crimes than to restrain them. But the Peru-
vians, of simple manners and unsuspicious
faith, were held in such awe by this rigid dis-

f Vega, lib. ii. c. 6.

334 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK cipline, that the number of offenders was ex-
VII< tremely small. -'Veneration for monarchs, en-
lightened and directed, as they believed, by
the divinity whom they adored, prompted
them to their duty ; the dread of punishment
which they were taught to consider as unavoid-
able vengeance inflicted by offended ' Heaven,
withheld them from evil.

) .

Mild ge- THE system of superstition on which the In-
theLrreli- cas mgrafte(l their pretensions to such high
gum. authority, was of a genius very different from
that established among the Mexicans. Manco
Capac turned the veneration of his followers
entirely towards natural objects. The Sun, as
the great source of light, of joy, and fertility
in the creation, attracted their principal ho-
mage. The Moon and Stars, as co-operating
with him, were entitled to secondary honours.
Wherever the propensity in the human mind
to acknowledge and to adore some superior
power takes this direction, and is employed
in contemplating the order and beneficence
that really exist in nature, the spirit of super-
stition is mild. Wherever imaginary beings,
created by the fancy and the fears of men, are
supposed to preside in nature, and become the
objects of worship, superstition always assumes
a more severe and atrocious form. Of the
latter we have an example among the Mexi-

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 335

cans, of the former among the people of Peru. BOOK
The Peruvians had not, indeed, made such VIL
progress in observation or inquiry, as to have
attained just conceptions of the Deity ; nor
was there in their language any proper name
or appellation of the Supreme Power, which
intimated, that they had formed any idea of
him as the Creator and Governor of the
World. s But by directing their veneration to
that glorious luminary, which, by its universal
and vivifying energy, is the best emblem of
Divine beneficence, the rites and observances
which they deemed acceptable to him were
innocent and humane. They offered to the
Sun a part of those productions which his
genial warmth had called forth from the bo-
som of the earth, and reared to maturity.
They sacrificed, as an oblation of gratitude,
some of the animals which were indebted to
his influence for nourishment. They presented
to him choice specimens of those works of in-
genuity which his light had guided the hand
of man in forming. But the Incas never
stained his altars with human blood, nor
could they conceive that their beneficent
father, the Sun, would be delighted with such
horrid victims.*1 Thus the Peruvians, unac-
quainted with those barbarous rites which

s Acosta, lib. v. c. 3. h See NOTE XLII.

336 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

«•

BOOK extinguish sensibility, and suppress the feel-
ings of nature at the sight of human sufferings,
were formed by the spirit of the superstition
which they had adopted, to a national cha-
racter, more gentle than that of any people
in America.

its in- THE influence of this superstition operated

fluence on . , . , . . ., .

civil Po- in the same manner upon their civil institu-
tions, and tended to correct in them whatever,
was adverse to gentleness of character. The
dominion of the Incas, though the most ab-
solute of all despotisms, was mitigated by its
alliance with religion. The mind was not
humbled and depressed by the idea of a forced
subjection to the will of a superior ; obedience,
paid to one who was believed to be clothed
with Divine authority, was willingly yielded,
and implied no degradation. The sovereign,
conscious that the submissive reverence of his
people flowed from their belief of his heavenly
descent, was continually reminded of a dis-
tinction which prompted him to imitate that
beneficent power which he was supposed to re-
present. In consequence of those impressions,
there hardly occurs in the traditional history
of Peru, any instance of rebellion against the
reigning prince, and among twelve successive
monarchs, there was not one tyrant.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 337

EVEN the wars in which the Incas engaged BOOK
were carried on with a spirit very different VIT-
from that of other American nations. They and on
fought not, like savages, to destroy and to ex
terminate ; or, like the Mexicans, to glut blood- tem>
thirsty divinities with human sacrifices. They
conquered, in order to reclaim and civilise the
vanquished, and to diffuse the knowledge of
their own institutions and arts. Prisoners seem
not to have been exposed to the insults and
tortures which were their lot in every other
part of the New World. The Incas took the
people whom they subdued under their protec-
tion, and admitted them to a participation of
all the advantages enjoyed by their original
subjects. This practice, so repugnant to Ame-
rican ferocity, and resembling the humanity of
the most polished nations, must be ascribed,
like other peculiarities which we have ob-
served in the Peruvian manners, to the genius
of their religion. The Incas, considering the
homage paid to any other object than to the
heavenly powers which they adored as impious,
were fond of gaining proselytes to their fa-
vourite system. The idols of every conquered
province were carried in triumph to the great
temple at Cuzco', and placed there as trophies

1 Herrera, dec. 5. lib. iv. c.4-. Vega, lib. v. c.,12.
. III. z

338 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK of the superior power of the divinity who was
^_ ^ the protector of the empire. The people were
treated with lenity, and instructed in the re-
ligious tenets of their new masters k, that the
conqueror might have the glory of having
added to the number of the votaries of his
father the Sun.

Peculiar THE state of property in Peru was no less

state of

property, singular than that of religion, and contributed,
likewise, towards giving a mild turn of cha-
racter to the people. All the lands capable of
cultivation were divided into three shares. One
was consecrated to the Sun, and the product
of it was applied to the erection of temples, and
furnishing what was requisite towards cele-
brating the public rites of religion. The second
belonged to the Inca, and was set apart as the
provision made by the community for the
support of government. The third and largest
share was reserved for the maintenance of the
people, among whom it was parcelled out.
Neither individuals, however, nor communi-
ties, had a right of exclusive property in the
portion set apart for their use. They possessed-
it only for a year, at the expiration of which a
new division was made in proportion to the
rank, the number, and exigencies of each

k Herrera, dec. 5. lib. iv. e. 8.

8

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 339

Family. All those lands were cultivated by the B o o K
joint industry of the community. The people, VIL ,
summoned by a proper officer, repaired in a
body to the fields, and performed their com-
mon task, while songs and musical instruments
cheered them to their labour. l By this singular Effects of
distribution of territory, as well as by the
mode of cultivating it, the idea of a common
interest, and of mutual subserviency, was con-
tinually inculcated. Each individual felt his
connection with those around him, and knew
that he depended on their friendly aid for
what increase he was to reap. A state thus
constituted may be considered as one great
family, in which the union of the members
was so complete, and the exchange of good
offices so perceptible, as to create stronger
attachment, and to bind man to man in closer
intercourse, than subsisted under any form of
society established in America. From this
resulted gentle manners, and mild virtues
unknown in the savage state, and with which
the Mexicans were little acquainted.

BUT, though the institutions of the Incag inequality
were so framed as to strengthen the bonds of °
affection among their subjects, there was great

inequality in their condition. The distinction

•

* Herrera, dec. 5. lib. iv. c.2. Vega, lib. v. c.5.
z 2

340 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK of ranks was fully established in Peru. A great
v^J^^ body of the inhabitants, under the denomination
of Yanaconas, were held in a state of servitude.
Their garb and houses were of a form different
from those of freemen. Like the Tamenes of
Mexico, they were employed in carrying bur-
dens, and in performing every other work of
drudgery."1 Next to them in rank, were such
of the people as were free, but distinguished by
no official or hereditary honours. Above them
were raised, those whom the Spaniards call
Orejones,from the ornaments worn in their ears.
They formed what may be denominated the
order of nobles, and in peace as well as war
held every office of power or trust." At the
head of all were the children of the Sun, who,
by their high descent and peculiar privileges,
were as much exalted above the Orejones, as
these were elevated above the people.

state of SUCH a form of society, from the union of its
members, as well as from the distinction in their
ranks, was favourable to progress in the arts.
But the Spaniards having been acquainted with
the improved state of various arts in Mexico,
several years before they discovered Peru, were
not so much struck with what they observed

ra Herrera, dec. 5. lib. iii. c. 4. lib. x, c. 8.
n Herrera, dec. 5. lib. iv. c. I.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 341

in the latter country, and describe the appear- BOOK
ances of .ingenuity there with less warmth of L VIL _,
admiration. The Peruvians, nevertheless, had
advanced far beyond the Mexicans, both in
the necessary arts of life, and in such as have
some title to the name of elegant*

IN Peru, agriculture, the art of primary ne- improved

. . - i TZ* • j state of

cessity in social lire, was more extensive, and agricui-
carried on with greater skill than in any part tl
of America. The Spaniards, in their progress
through the country, were so fully supplied
with provisions of every kind, that in the
relation of their adventures we meet with few
of those dismal scenes of distress occasioned by
famine, in which the conquerors of Mexico
were so often involved. The quantity of soil
under cultivation was not left to the discretion
of individuals, but regulated by public autho- *
rity in proportion to the exigencies of the com-
munity. Even the calamity of an unfruitful
season was but little felt, for the product of the
lands consecrated to the Sun, as well as those
set apart for the Incas, being deposited in the
Tambos, or public store-houses, it remained
there as a stated provision for times of scarcity.0
As the extent of cultivation was determined

0 Zarate, lib. i. c. I*. Vega, lib. i. c. 8.
z 3

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK with such provident attention to the demands
of the state, the invention and industry of the
Peruvians were called forth to extraordinary
exertions, by certain defects peculiar to their
climate and soil. All the vast rivers that flow
from the Andes take their course eastward to
the Atlantic Ocean. Peru is watered only
by some streams which rush down from the
mountains like torrents. A great part of the
low country is sandy and barren, and never
refreshed with rain. In order to render such an
unpromising region fertile, the ingenuity of the
Peruvians had recourse to various expedients.
By means of artificial canals, conducted with
much patience and considerable art, from the
torrents that poured across their country, they
conveyed a regular supply of moisture to their
fields. p They enriched the soil by manuring it
with the dung of sea-fowls, of which they found
an inexhaustible store on all the islands scat-
tered along the coasts. q In describing the
customs of any nation thoroughly civilised, such
practices wrould hardly draw attention, or be
mentioned as in any degree remarkable ; but in
the history of the improvident race of men in
the New World, they are entitled to notice as

P Zarate, lib. i. c. 4. Vega, lib. v. c. 1 . & 24.
q Acosta, lib. iv. c. 37. Vega, lib. v. c, 3. See NOTE
XLIII.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 343

singular proofs of industry and of art. The use BOOK
of the plough, indeed, was unknown to the Pe- ^™ _,
ruvians. They turned up the earth with a kind
of mattock of hard wood/ Nor was this labour
deemed so degrading as to be devolved wholly
upon the women. Both sexes joined in per-
forming this necessary work. Even the children
of the Sun set an example of industry, by
cultivating a field near Cuzco with their own
hands, and they dignified this function by
denominating it their triumph over the earth. s

THE superior ingenuity of the Peruvians is Their
obvious, likewise, in the construction of their
houses and public buildings. In the extensive
plains which stretch along the Pacific Ocean*
where the sky is perpetually serene, and the
climate mild, their houses were very properly
of a fabric extremely slight. But in the higher
regions, where rain falls, where the vicissitude
of seasons is known, and their rigour felt,
houses were constructed with greater solidity.
They were generally of a square form, the
walls about eight feet high, built with bricks
hardened in the sun, without any windows, and
the door low and straight. Simple as these struc-
tures were, and rude as the materials may seem
to be of which they were formed, they were so

r Zarate, lib. i. c. 8. s Vega, lib, v. c. 2.

z 4

HISTORY OF AMERICA;

BOOK durable, that many of them still subsist in di£
VIL ferent parts of Peru, long after every monument
that might have conveyed to us any idea of the
domestic state of the other American nations
has vanished from the face of the earth. But
it was in the temples consecrated to the Sun,
and in the buildings destined for the residence
of their monarchs, that the Peruvians displayed
the utmost extent of their art and contrivance.
The descriptions of them by such of the
Spanish writers as had an opportunity of
contemplating them, while in some measure
entire, might have appeared highly exag-
gerated, if the ruins which still remain, did
not vouch the truth of their relations. These-
ruins of sacred or royal buildings are found in
every province of the empire, and by their
frequency demonstrate that they are monu-
ments of a powerful people, who must have
subsisted, during a period of some extent,
in a state of no inconsiderable improvement.
They appear to have been edifices various in
their dimensions. Some of a moderate size,
many of immense extent, all remarkable for so-
lidity, and resembling each other in the style of
architecture. The temple of Pachacamac, toge-
ther with a palace of the Inca, and a fortress,
were so connected together as to form one great
structure, above half a league in circuit. In this
prodigious pile, the same singular taste in build-

7

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 345

ing is conspicuous, as in other works of the BOOK
Peruvians. As they were unacquainted with
the use of the pulley, and other mechanical
powers, and could not elevate the large stones
and bricks which they employed in building to
any considerable height, the walls of this edi-
fice, in which they seem to have made their
greatest effort towards magnificence, did not
rise above twelve feet from the ground.
Though they had not discovered the use of
mortar or of any other cement in building, the
bricks or stones were joined with so much
nicety, that the seams can hardly be discerned. c
The apartments, as far as the distribution of
them can be traced in the ruins, were ill-dis-
posed, and afforded little accommodation.
There was not a single window in any part of
the building ; and as no light could enter but
by the door, all the apartments of largest di-
mension must either have been perfectly dark,
or illuminated by some other means. But with
all these, and many other imperfections that
might be mentioned in their art of building,
the works of the Peruvians which still remain,
must be considered as stupendous efforts of a
people unacquainted with the use of iron, and
convey to us an high idea of the power pos-
sessed by their ancient monarchs.

e See NOTE XLIV.

346 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK THESE, however, were not the noblest or
^_ IL most useful works of the Incas. The two
Their pub- great roads from Cuzco to Quito, extending
in an uninterrupted stretch above fifteen hun-
dred miles, are entitled to still higher praise.
The one was conducted through the interior
and mountainous country, the other through
the plains on the sea-coast. From the lan-
guage of admiration in which some of the early
writers express their astonishment when they
first viewed those roads, and from the more
pompous description of later writers, who la-
bour to support some favourite theory con-
cerning America, one might be led to compare
this work of the Incas to the famous military
ways which remain as monuments of the Ro-
man power ; but in a country where there was
no tame animal except the Llama, which was
never used for draught, and but little as a beast
of burden, where the high roads were seldom
trod by any but a human foot, no great degree
of labour or art was requisite in forming them.
The Peruvian roads were only fifteen feet in
breadth", and in many places so slightly
formed, that time has effaced every vestige of
the course in which they ran. In the low coun-
try little more seems to have been done, than to
plant trees or to fix posts at certain intervals,

u Cieca, c. 60.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 347

in order to mark the proper route to travellers. BOOK
To open a path through the mountainous
country was a more arduous task. Eminences
were levelled, and hollows filled up, and for
the preservation of the road it was fenced with
a bank of turf. At proper distances, Tambos,
or storehouses, were erected for the accommo-
dation of the Inca and his attendants, in their
progress through his dominions. From the
manner in which the road was originally
formed in this higher and more impervious re-
gion, it has proved more durable ; and though,
from the inattention of the Spaniards to every
object but that of working their mines, no-
thing has been done towards keeping it in re-
pair, its course may still be traced. w Such was
the celebrated road of the Incas;.and even
from this description, divested of every cir-
cumstance of manifest exaggeration, or of sus-
picious aspect, it must be considered as a
striking proof of an extraordinary progress in
improvement and policy. To the savage tribes
of America, the idea of facilitating communi-
cation with places at a distance had never oc-
curred. To the Mexicans it was hardly
known. Even in the most civilised countries
in Europe, men had advanced far in refine-

w Xerez, p. 189. 191. Zarate, lib. i. c. 13, 14. Vega,
lib.ix. c: 13. Bourguer Voyage, p. 105. Ulloa Entrete-
nemientos, p. 365.

348 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK ment, before it became a regular object of
^ Ir* national police to form such roads as render
intercourse commodious. It was a capital ob-
ject of Roman policy to open a communica-
tion with all the provinces of their extensive
empire by means of those roads which are justly
considered as one of the noblest monuments
both of their wisdom and their power.
But during the long reign of barbarism, the
Roman roads were neglected or destroyed ;
and at the time when the Spaniards entered
Peru, no kingdom in Europe could boast of any
work of public utility that could be compared
with the great roads formed by the Incas.

and THE formation of those roads introduced

" ges' another improvement in Peru equally un-
known over all the rest of America. In its
course from south to north, the road of the
Incas wras intersected by all the torrents which
roll from the Andes towards the Western
Ocean. From the rapidity of their course,
as well as from the frequency and violence of
their inundation, these were not fordable.
Some expedient, however, was to be found
for passing them. The Peruvians, from
their unacquaintance with the use of arches,
and their inability to work in wood, could
not construct bridges either of stone or tim-
ber. But necessity, the parent of invention,

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 349

suggested a device which supplied that defect. BOOK
They formed cables of great strength, by twist- vn '
ing together some of the pliable withs or osiers,
with which their country abounds ; six of these
cables they stretched across the stream parallel
to one another, and made them fast on each
side. These they bound firmly together by
interweaving smaller ropes so close, as to
form a compact piece of net- work, which be-
ing covered with branches of trees and earth,
they passed along it with tolerable security. x
Proper persons were appointed to attend at
each bridge, to keep it in repair, and to assist
passengers. y In the level country, where the
rivers became deep and broad and still, they
are passed in Balzas, or floats ; in the con-
struction, as well as navigation of which, the
ingenuity of the Peruvians appears to be far
superior to that of any people in America.
These had advanced no farther in naval skill
than the use of the paddle, or oar ; the Peru-
vians ventured to raise a mast, and spread a
sail, by means of which their balzas not only
went nimbly before the wind, but could veer
and tack with great celerity.2

x See NOTE XLV.

y Sancho ap. Ram. iii. 376. B. Zarate, lib. i. c. 14'.
Vega, lib. iii. c. 7, 8. Herrera, dec. 5. lib. iv. c. 3, 4.
z Ulloa Voy. i. 167, Sec.

3,50 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK NOR were the ingenuity and art of the Peru*.
^_^L_, vians confined solely to objects of essential
refinb°f u^uty- They had made some progress in
silver ore. arts, which may be called elegant. They
possessed the precious metals in greater abun-
dance than any people of America. They
obtained gold in the same manner with the
Mexicans, by searching in the channels of
rivers, or washing the earth in which particles
of it were contained. But in order to procure
silver, they exerted no inconsiderable degree
of skill and invention. They had not, indeed,
attained the art of sinking a shaft into the
bowels of the earth, and penetrating to the
riches concealed there ; but they hollowed
deep caverns on the banks of rivers and the
sides of mountains, and emptied such veins as
did not dip suddenly beyond their reach. In
other places, where the vein lay near the sur-
face, they dug pits to such a depth, that the
person who worked below could throw out the
' ore, or hand it up in baskets. a They had dis-
covered the art of smelting and refining this,
either by the simple application of fire, or
where the ore was more stubborn, and impreg-
nated with foreign substances, by placing it
in small ovens or furnaces, on high grounds,
so artificially constructed, that the draught of

* Ramusio, iii. 4 14-. A.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 351

air performed the function of a bellows, an B o o *:
engine with which they were totally unac- v _™_L __,
quainted. By this simple device, the purer
ores were smelted with facility, and the quan-
tity of silver in Peru was so considerable, that
many of the utensils employed in the functions
of common life were made of it. b Several of
those vessels and trinkets are said to have me-
rited no small degree of estimation, on account
of the neatness of the workmanship, as well as
the intrinsic value of the materials. But as the
conquerors of America were well acquainted
with the latter, but had scarcely any concep-
tion of the former, most of the silver vessels
and trinkets were melted down, and rated ac-
cording to the weight and fineness of the metal
in the division of the spoil.

IN other works of mere curiosity or orna- Works of
ment, their ingenuity has been highly cele- e
brated. Many specimens of those have been
dug out of the Guacas, or mounds of earth,
with which the Peruvians covered the bodies
of the dead. Among these are mirrors of va-
rious dimensions, of hard shining stones highly
polished ; vessels of earthen ware of different
forms j hatchets, and other instruments, some

b Acosta, lib. iv. c. 4-, 5» Vega, p. 1. lib. viii. c. 25.
Ulloft Entreten. 258.

35% HISTORY OF AMERICA.

ifc o o K destined for war, and others for labour. Some
rn* were of flint, some of copper, hardened to such
a degree by an unknown process, as to supply
the place of iron on several occasions. Had
the use of those tools formed of copper been
general, the progress of the Peruvians in the
arts might have been such as to emulate that
of more cultivated nations. But either the
metal was so rare, or the operation by which it
was hardened so tedious, that their instruments
of copper were few, and so extremely small,
that they seem to have been employed only in
slighter works. But even to such a circum-
scribed use of this imperfect metal, the Peru-
vians were indebted for their superiority to the
other people of America in various arts. ° The
same observation, however, may be applied to
them, which I formerly made with respect to
the arts of the Mexicans. From several speci-
mens of Peruvian utensils and ornaments,
which are deposited in the royal cabinet of
Madrid, and from some preserved in different
collections in other parts of Europe, I have rea-
son to believe that the workmanship is more to
be admired on account of the rude tools with
which it was executed, than on account of its
intrinsic neatness and elegance ; and that the

e Ulloa Voy. torn. i. 381, &c. Id. Entreten. p. 369, &c.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 335

Peruvians, though the most improved of all the BOOK
Americans, were not advanced beyond the in- VIL
fancy of arts.

BUT notwithstanding so many particulars, An imper-
which seem to indicate an high degree of im- sation!™11"
provement in Peru, other circumstances occur
that suggest the idea of a society still in the
first stages of its transition from barbarism to
civilisation. In all the dominions of the In- NO cities
cas, Cuzco was the only place that had the butCuzco-
appearance, or was entitled to the name of a
city. Every where else, the people lived
mostly in detached habitations, dispersed over
the country, or, at the utmost, settled together
in small villages. d But until men are brought
to assemble in numerous bodies, and incorpo-
rated in such close union, as to enjoy frequent
intercourse, and to feel mutual dependence,
they never imbibe perfectly the spirit, or as-
sume the manners of social life. In a country
of immense extent, with only one city, the pro-
gress of manners, and the improvement either
of the necessary or more refined arts, must have
been so slow, and carried on under such disad-
vantages, that it is more surprising the Peru-
vians should have advanced so far in refine-
ment, than that they did not proceed farther.

d Zarate, lib. 1. c. 9. Herrera, dec. 5. lib. vi. c. 4.
VOL, ITT* A A

354 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK IN consequence of this state of imperfect

[^ , union, the separation of professions in Peru

No perfect was not so complete as among the Mexicans.

separation .

of profes- The less closely men associate, the more simple
are their manners, and the fewer their wants.
The crafts of common and most necessary use
in life do not, in such a state, become so com-
plex or difficult, as to render it requisite that
men should be trained to them by any parti-
cular course of education. All the arts, ac-
cordingly, which were of daily and indispens-
able utility, were exercis'ed by every Peruvian
indiscriminately. None but the artists em-
ployed in works of mere curiosity, or ornament,
constituted a separate order of men, or were
distinguished from other citizens/

Little FROM the want of cities in Peru, another

commer-
cial inter- consequence followed. There was little com-
mercial intercourse among the inhabitants of
that great empire. The activity of commerce
is coeval with the foundation of cities ; and
from the moment that the members of any
community settle in considerable numbers in
one place, its operations become vigorous.
The citizen must depend for subsistence on
the labour of those who cultivate the ground.

e Acosta, lib. vi. c. 15. Veg6, lib. v. c. 9. Herrera,
dec. 5. lib. iv. c. 4-.

HISTORY OF AMERICA,

They, m return, must receive some equivalent. BOOK
Thus mutual intercourse is established, and VIL
the productions of art are regularly exchanged
for the fruits- of agriculture. In the towns of
the Mexican empire, stated markets were held,
and whatever could supply any want or desire
of man was an object of commerce. But in
Peru, from the singular mode of dividing pro-
perty, and the manner in which the people
were settled, there was hardly any species of
commerce carried on between different pro-
vincesf, and the community was less ac-
quainted with that active intercourse, which is
at once a bond of union, and an incentive to
improvement.

BUT the unwarlike spirit of the Peruvians Unwariike

„•_:.!. ^e

was the most remarkable, as well as the most tf
fatal defect in their character. g The greater vians'
part of the rude nations of America opposed
their invaders with undaunted ferocity, though
with little conduct or success. The Mexicans
maintained the struggle in defence of their
liberties, with such persevering fortitude, that
it was with difficulty the Spaniards triumphed
over them. Peru was subdued at once, and
almost withou resistance ; and the most favour-

f Vega, Kb. vi. c. 8.

* Xerez, 190. Sancho ap. Ram. iii. 372. Herrera,
dec. 5, Hb. i. c. 3.

A A 2-

356 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK able opportunities of regaining their freedom,
and of crushing their oppressors, were lost
through the timidity of the people. Though
the traditional history of the Peruvians repre-
sents all the Incas as warlike princes, fre-
quently at the headof armies, which they led to
victory and conquest ; few symptoms of such a
martial spirit appear in any of their operations
subsequent to the invasion of the Spaniards.
The influence, perhaps, of those institutions
which rendered their manners gentle, gave
their minds this unmanly softness; perhaps,
the constant serenity and mildness of the
climate may have enervated the vigour of their
frame ; perhaps some principle in their govern-
ment, unknown to us, was the occasion of thi^
political debility. Whatever may have been the
cause, the fact is certain, and there is not an
instance in history of any people so little ad-
vanced in refinement, so totally destitute of
military enterprise. This character hath de-
scended to their posterity. The Indians of
Peru are now more tame and depressed than
any people of America. Their feeble spirits,
relaxed in lifeless inaction, seem hardly capable
of any bold or manly exertion.

BUT, besides those capital defects in the poli-
tical state of Peru, some detached circumstances
and facts occur in the Spanish writers, which

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 357

discover a considerable remainder of barbarity BOOK
in their manners. A cruel custom, that prevailed L --'._•
in some of the most savage tribes, subsisted
among the Peruvians. On the death of the
Incas, and of other eminent persons, a con-
siderable number of their attendants was put
to death, and interred around their Guacas,
that they might appear in the next world with
their former dignity, and be served with the
same respect. On the death of Huana-Capac,
the most powerful of their monarchs, above a
thousand victims were doomed to accompany
him to the tomb.h In one particular their
manners appear to have been more barbarous
than those of most rude tribes. Though
acquainted with the use of fire in preparing
maize, and other vegetables for food, they de-
voured both flesh and fish perfectly raw, and
astonished the Spaniards, with a practice re-
pugnant to the ideas of all civilised people.1

BUT though Mexico and Peru are the pos- Other do-
sessions of Spain in the New World, which, Sp^in^n°
on account both of their ancient and present America-
state, have attracted the greatest attention;
her other dominions there are far from being
inconsiderable, eitlreri in extent or value. The

h Acosta, Hb.v. c. 7.

1 Xerez, p. 190. Sancho, Ram. iii. 372. C. Herrera,
dec. 5. lib. i. <v3.

AA 3

358 H1STORV OF AMERICA.

BOOK greater part of them was reduced to subjection
during the first part of the sixteenth century?
by private adventurers, who fitted out their
small armaments either in Hispaniola or in
Old. Spain : and were we to follow each leader
in his progress, we should discover the same
daring courage, the same persevering ardour,
the same rapacious desire for wealth, and the
same capacity for enduring and surmounting
every thing in order to attain it, which dis-
tinguished the operations of the Spaniards in
their greater American conquests. But, instead
of entering into a detail, which, from the
similarity of the transactions, would appear
almost a repetition of what has been already
A brief related^ I shall satisfy myself with such a view
themf ° of those provinces of the Spanish empire
in America, which have not hitherto been
mentioned, as may convey to my readers an
adequate idea of its greatness, fertility, and
opulence.

Such as I BEGIN with the countries contiguous to the
"nttcfthe two great monarchies, of whose history and
institutions I have given some account, and
shall then briefly describe the other districts
of Spanish Aanerica* The jurisdiction of the
viceroy of New Spain extends over several
provinces, which were not subject to the do-
minion of the Mexicans. The countries of

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 359

Cinaloa and Sonera that stretch along the east BOOK
side of the Vermillion sea, or gulf of California, L VII> ,
as well as the immense kingdoms of New Na- Cinaloa

and So-

varre and New Mexico, which bend towards nora,&c.
the west and north, did not acknowledge the
sovereignty of Montezuma, or his predecessors.
These regions, not inferior in magnitude to all
the Mexican empire, are reduced some to a
greater, others to a less degree of subjection to
the Spanish yoke. They extend through the
most delightful part of the temperate zone ;
their soil is, in general, remarkably fertile, and
all their productions, whether animal or vege-
table, are most perfect in their kind. They
have all a communication either with the Pa-
cific Ocean, or with the Gulf of Mexico, ^nd
are watered by rivers which not only enrich
them, but may become subservient to com-
merce. The number of Spaniards settled in
those vast countries is indeed extremely small.
They may be said to have subdued rather than
to have occupied them. But if the popula-
tion in their ancient establishments in Ame-
rica shall continue to increase, they may gra-
dually spread over those provinces, of which,
however inviting, they have not hitherto been
able to take full possession.

ONE circumstance may contribute to the Rich
.speedy population of some districts. Very rich
A A 4

minis.

360 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK mines both of gold and silver have been dis-
^ ^ covered in many .of the regions which I have
mentioned. Wherever these are opened, and
worked with success, a multitude of people re-
sort. In order to supply them with the neces-
saries of life, cultivation must be increased,
artisans of various kinds must assemble, and
industry as well as wealth will be gradually dif-
fused. Many examples of this have occurred
in different parts of America since they fell
under the dominion of the Spaniards. Popu-
lous villages and large towns have suddenly
arisen amidst uninhabited wilds and moun-
tains ; and the working of mines, though far
from being the most proper object towards
which the attention of an infant society should
be turned, may become the means both of pro-
A recent moting useful activity, and of augmenting the

and re- .

markabie number ox people. A recent and singular
covery. jnstance of ^jg }ias happened, which, as it is

but little known in Europe, and may be
productive of great effects, merits attention.
The Spaniards settled in the provinces of
Cinaloa and Sonora had been long disturbed
by the depredations of some fierce tribes of
Indians. In the year 1765, the incursions
of those savages became so frequent, and
so destructive, that the Spanish inhabitants,
in despair, applied to the Marquis de Croix,
viceroy of Mexico, for such a body of troops

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

as might enable them to drive those for- BOOK
midable invaders from their places of retreat t v*1
in the mountains. But the treasury of Mexico
was so much exhausted by the large sums
drawn from it, in order to support the late
war against Great Britain, that the viceroy
could afford them no aid. The respect due to
his virtues accomplished what his official
power could not effect. He prevailed with the
merchants of New Spain to advance about two
hundred thousand pesos for defraying the ex-
pense of the expedition. The war was con-
ducted by an officer of abilities ; and after
being protracted for three years, chiefly by the
difficulty of pursuing the fugitives over moun-
tains and through defiles which were almost
impassable, it terminated, in the year 1771, in
the final submission of the tribes, which had
been so long the object of terror to the two pro-
vinces. In the course of this service, the Spa-
niards marched through countries into which
they seem not to have penetrated before that
time, and discovered mines of such value, as
was astonishing even to men acquainted with
the riches contained in the mountains of the
New World. At Cineguilla, in the province of
Sonora, they entered a plain of fourteen leagues
in extent, in which, at the depth of only sixteen
inches, they found gold in grains of such a size,
that some of them weighed nine marks, and in

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK such quantities, that in a short time, with a lew
labourers, they collected a thousand marks of
gold in grains, even without taking time to
wash the earth that had been dug, which ap-
peared to be so rich, that persons of skill com-
puted that it might yield what would be equal
Probable in value to a million of pesos. Before the end
this. of the year 1771> above two thousand persons
were settled in Cineguilla, under the govern-
ment of proper magistrates, and the inspection
of several ecclesiastics. As several other
mines, not inferior in richness to that of Cine-
guilla, have been discovered, both in Sonora
and Cinaloak, it is probable that these ne-
glected and thinly-inhabited provinces may
soon become as populous and valuable as any
part of the Spanish empire of America.

California ^HE Peninsula °f California, on the other
its state, sjje of the Vemiillion sea, seems to have been
less known to the ancient Mexicans than
the provinces which I have mentioned. It
was discovered by Cortes in the year 1536. l
During a long period it continued to be so
little frequented, that even its form was un-
known, and in most charts it was represented
as an island, not as a peninsula."1 Though
the climate of this country, if we may judge

k See NOTE XL VI. ' Book v. vol. iii. p. 100.
« See NOTE XL VII.

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

from its situation, must be very desirable, the BOOK
Spaniards have made small progress in peo-
pling it. Towards the close of the last cen-
tury, the Jesuits, who had great merit in ex-
ploring this neglected province, and in civi-
lising its rude inhabitants, imperceptibly ac-
quired a dominion over it as complete as that
which they possessed in their missions in Para-
guay, and they laboured to introduce into
it the same policy, and to govern the natives
by the same maxims. In order to prevent
the court of Spain from conceiving any jea-
lousy of their designs and operations, they
seem studiously to have depreciated the
country, by representing the climate as so
disagreeable and unwholesome, and the soil as
so barren, that nothing but a zealous desire
of converting the natives could have induced
them to settle there.11 Several public-spirited
citizens endeavoured to undeceive their sove-
reigns, and to give them a better view of Ca-
lifornia ; but in vain. At length, on the ex- and pro-
pulsion of the Jesuits from the Spanish domi-
nions, the court of Madrid, as prone at that ing*
juncture to suspect the purity of the Order's
intentions, as formerly to confide in them with
implicit trust, appointed Don Joseph Galvez,
whose abilities have since raised him to the '.
high rank of minister for the Indies, to visit

" Venegas, Hist, of California, i. 26

364 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK that peninsula. His account of the country
vn _^ was favourable ;.. he found the pearl-fishery
on its coasts to be valuable, and he discovered
mines of gold of a very promising appear-
ance.0 From its vicinity to Cinaloa and So-
nora, it is probable, that if the population of
these provinces shall increase in the manner
which I have supposed, California may, by
degrees, receive from them such a recruit of
inhabitants, as to be no longer reckoned
among the desolate and useless districts of the
Spanish empire.

Yucatan ON the east of Mexico, Yucatan and Hon-
duras, duras are comprehended in the government of
New Spain, though anciently they can hardly be
said to have formed a part of the Mexican empire.
These large provinces, stretching from the bay
of Campeachy beyond Cape Gracias a Dios, do
not, like the other territories of Spain in the
New World, derive their value either from the
fertility of their soil, or the richness of their
mines : but they produce in greater abundance,
than any part of America, the logwood-tree,
which, in dyeing some colours, is so far preferable
to any other material, that the consumption of it
in Europe is considerable, and it has become
an article in commerce of great value. During
a long period, no European nation intruded

0 JLorenzano, 34-9, 350.

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

upon the Spaniards in those provinces, or at- B o o K
tempted to obtain any share in this branch of
trade. But after the conquest of Jamaica by
the English, it soon appeared that a formidable
rival was now seated in the neighbourhood of
the Spanish territories. One of the first ob-
jects which tempted the English settled in that
island, was the great profit arising from the
logwood trade, and the facility of wresting
some portion of it from the Spaniards. Some xheir de-
adventurers from Jamaica made the first at- cline'
tempt at Cape Catoche, the south-east pro-
montory of Yucatan, and by cutting logwood
there, carried on a gainful traffic. When
most of the trees near the coast in that place
were felled, they removed to the island of
Trist, in the Bay of Campeachy, and in later
times, their principal station has been in the
Bay of Honduras. The Spaniards, alarmed
at this encroachment, endeavoured by nego-
tiation, remonstrances, and open force, to pre-
vent the English from obtaining any footing
on that part of the American continent. But
after struggling against it for more than a cen-
tury, the disasters of last war extorted from
the court of Madrid a reluctant consent to to-
lerate this settlement of foreigners in the heart
of its territories.15 The pain which this hum-

P Treaty of Paris, Art. xviii.

3G6 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK bling concession occasioned, seems to have
i —T ..'"•_, prompted the Spaniards to devise a method of
rendering it of little consequence, more effec-
tual than all the efforts of negotiation or vio-
lence. The logwood produced on the west
coast of Yucatan, where the soil is drier, is in
quality far superior to that which grows on the
marshy grounds where the English are settled,
and re- By encouraging the cutting of this, and per-

"VjVJl]

mitting the importation of it into Spain with-
out paying any dutyq, such vigour has been
given to this branch of commerce, and the
logwood which the English bring to market
nas sunk so much in value, that their trade to
the Bay of ^Honduras has gradually declined1
since it obtained a legal sanction ; and, it is
probable* will soon be finally abandoned. In
that event, Yucatan and Honduras will be-
come possessions of considerable importance
to Spain.

costa Rica Sf ILL farther east than Honduras lie the

and Vera-

gua. two provinces of Costa Rica and Veragua,
which likewise belong to the vice-royalty of
New Spain ; but both have been so much
neglected by the Spaniards, and are appa-
rently of such small value, that they merit no
particular attention.

q Real Cedula, Campomanes, iii. 14-5.
r See NOTE XL VIII.

7

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 367

THE most important province depending on B o o K
the vice-royalty of Peru is Chili. The Incas ^_
had established their dominion in some of its Chili.
northern districts ; but in the greater part of
the country, its gallant and high-spirited in- *
habitants maintained their independence. The
Spaniards, allured by the fame of its opulence,
early attempted the conquest of it under Diego
Almagro ; and after his death Pedro de Val-
divia resumed the design. Both met with
fierce opposition. The former relinquished
the enterprise in the manner which I have
mentioned. s The latter, after having given
many displays, both of courage and military
skill, was cut off, together with a considerable
body of troops under his command. Francisco
de Villagra, Valdivia's lieutenant, by his spi-
rited conduct, checked the natives in their
career, and saved the remainder of the Spa-
niards from destruction. By degrees, all the
champaign country along the coast was sub-
jected to the Spanish dominion. The moun-
tainous country is still possessed by the Puel-
ches, Araucos, and other tribes of its original
inhabitants, formidable neighbours to the Spa-
niards ; with whom, during the course of two
centuries, they have been obliged to maintain

s Book vi. vol. iii. p. 170, &c.

368 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK almost perpetual hostility, suspended only by
^ a few intervals of insecure peace.

Excellence THAT part of Chili then, which may pro-
of its cli- ," TV' j j o • i

mate and perly be deemed a Spanish province, is a nar-
row district, extended along the coast from the
desert of Atacamas to the island of Chiloe,
above nine hundred miles. Its climate is the
most delicious in the New World, and is hardly
equalled by that of any region on the face of
the earth. Though bordering on the Torrid
Zone, it never feels the extremity of heat,
being screened on the east by the Andes, and
refreshed from the west by cooling sea-breezes.
The temperature of the air is so mild and
equable that the Spaniards give it the pre-
ference to that of the southern provinces in
their native country. The fertility of the soil
corresponds with the benignity of the climate,
and is wonderfully accommodated to European
productions. The most valuable of these,
corn, wine, and oil, abound in Chili, as if they
had been native to the country. All the
fruits imported from Europe attain to full ma-
turity there. The animals of our hemisphere
not only multiply, but improve in this delight-
ful region. The horned cattle are of larger
size than those of Spain. Its breed of horses
surpasses, both in beauty and spirit, the famous

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 369

Andalusian race, from which they sprung. BOOK
Nor has nature exhausted her bounty on the
surface of the earth ; she has stored its bowels
with riches. Valuable mines of gold, of silver,
of copper, and of lead, haye been discovered
in various parts of it.

A COUNTRY distinguished by so many bles- Cause of
sings, we may be apt to conclude, would early Neglected
become a favourite station of the Spaniards,
and must have been cultivated with peculiar
predilection and care. Instead of this, a great
part of it remains unoccupied. In all this
extent of country, there are not above eighty
thousand white inhabitants, and about three
times that number of negroes and people of a
mixed race. The most fertile soil in America
lies uncultivated, and some of its most pro-
mising mines remain unwrought. Strange as
this neglect of the Spaniards to avail them-
selves of advantages, which seemed to court
their acceptance, may appear, the causes of
it can be traced. The only intercourse of
Spain with its colonies in the South Sea, was
carried on during two centuries by the annual
fleet to Porto-bello. All the produce of these
colonies was shipped in the ports of Callao, or
Arica in Peru, for Panama, and carried from
thence across the isthmus. All the commodi-

VOL.lll. B B

570

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK ties which they received from the mother*
countries, were conveyed from Panama to the
same harbours. Thus both the exports and
imports of Chili passed through the hands of
merchants settled in Peru. These had of course
a profit on each ; and in both transactions the
Chilese felt their own subordination ; and
having no direct intercourse with the parent-
state, they depended upon another province
for the disposal of their productions, as well
as for the supply of their wants. Under such
discouragements, population could not in-
crease, and industry was destitute of one chief1
incitement. But now that Spain, from mo-
tives which I shall mention hereafter, has
adopted a new system, and carries on her com-
merce with the colonies in the South Sea, by
ships which go round Cape Horn, a direct
intercourse is opened between Chili and the
mother-country. The gold, the silver, and
the other commodities of the province will be
exchanged in its own harbours for the manu-
factures of Europe. Chili may speedily rise
into that importance among the Spanish set-
tlements to which it is entitled by its natural
advantages, ft may become the granary of
Peru, and the other provinces along the Pa-
cific Ocean. It may supply them with wine,
with cattle, with horses, with hemp, and many

Prospect
ofits
improve-
ment.

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 37!

otlier articles for which they now depend upon BOOK
Europe. Though the new system has been V*L
established only a few years, those effects of it
begin already to be observed. ' If it shall be
adhered to with any steadiness for half a cen-
tury, one may venture to foretel, that popu-
lation, industry, and opulence will advance
in this province with rapid progress.

To the east of the Andes, the provinces of
Tucuman and Rio de la Plata border on Chili, man and

,., , . , Rio de la

and like it were dependent on the vice-royalty piata.
of Peru. These regions of immense ^extent
stretch in length, from north to south above
thirteen hundred miles, and in breadth more
than a thousand. This country, which is Northern
larger than most European kingdoms, natu- erndm-
rally forms itself into two great divisions, one sl0"'
on the north, and the other on the south of
Rio de la- Plata. The former comprehends
Paraguay, the famous missions of the Jesuits,
and several other districts. But as disputes
have long subsisted between the courts of
Spain and Portugal, concerning its bounda-
ries, which, it is probable, will be soon finally
ascertained, either amicably, or by the deci-
sion of the sword, I choose to reserve my ac-

c Campomanes, ii. 157.
B B 2

372 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK count of this northern division, until I enter
t ^I'_, upon the history of Portuguese America, with
which it is intimately connected ; and, in re-
lating it, I shall be able, from authentic ma-
terials, supplied both by Spain and Portugal, to
give a full and accurate description of the ope-
rations and views of the Jesuits, in rearing that
singular fabric of policy in America, which has
drawn so much attention, and has been so im-
perfectly understood. The latter division of
the province contains the governments of Tu-
cuman and Buenos- Ayres, and to these I shall
at present confine my observations.

view of THE Spaniards entered this part of Ame-
rica by the river De la Plata j and though a
succession of cruel disasters befel them in
their early attempts to establish their domi-
nion in it, they were enouraged to persist
in the design, at first by the hopes of dis-
covering mines in the interior country, and
afterwards by the necessity of occupying it,
in order to prevent any other nation from
settling there, and penetrating by this route
into their rich possessions in Peru. But
except at Buenos- Ayres, they have made no
settlement of any consequence in all the vast
space which I have mentioned. There are in-
deed, scattered over it, a few places on which

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 378

they have bestowed the name of towns, and BOOK
to which they have endeavoured to add some
dignity, by erecting them into bishoprics j but
they are no better than paltry villages, each
with two or three hundred inhabitants. One
circumstance, however, which was not origin-
ally foreseen, has contributed to render this
district, though thinly peopled, of considerable
importance. The province of Tucuman, to-
gether with the country to the south of the
Plata, instead of being covered with wood
like other parts of America, forms one ex-
tensive open plain, almost without a tree.
The soil is a deep fertile mould, watered by
many streams descending from the Andes,
and clothed in perpetual verdure. In this
rich pasturage, the horses and cattle imported
by the Spaniards from Europe have multiplied
to a degree which almost exceeds belief.
This has enabled the inhabitants not only to
open a lucrative trade with Peru, by supplying
it with cattle, horses, and mules, but to carry
on a commerce no less beneficial, by the ex-
portation of hides to Europe. From both,
the colony has derived great advantages. But
its commodious situation for carrying on con-
traband trade, Has been the chief source of its
prosperity. While the court of Madrid ad-
hered to its ancient system, with respect to ita
B B 3

374 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK communication with America, the river De la
Plata lay so much out of the course of Spanish
navigation, that interlopers, almost without
any risk of being either observed or obstructed,
could pour in European manufactures in
such quantities, that tKey not only supplied
the wants of the colony, but were conveyed
into all the eastern districts of Peru. When
the Portuguese in Brasil extended their settle-
ments to the banks of Rio de la Plata, a new
channel was opened, by which prohibited com-
modities flowed into the Spanish territories,
with still more facility, and in greater abun-
dance. This illegal traffic, however detri-
mental to the parent-state, contributed to the
increase of the settlement, which had the im-
mediate benefit of it, and Buenos- Ayres be-
came gradually a populous and opulent town.
What may be the effect of the alteration lately
made in the government of this colony, the
nature of which shall be described in the sub-
sequent Book, cannot hitherto be known.

Other ter- ALL the other territories of Spain in the
New World, the islands excepted, of whose
discovery and reduction I have formerly given
an account, are comprehended under two great
divisions ; the former denominated the king-
dom of Tierra Firme, the provinces of which

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 375

stretch along the Atlantic, from the eastern BOOK
frontier of New Spain to the mouth of the
Orinoco 5 the latter, the New Kingdom of
Granada, situated iri! the interior country.
With a short view of these I shall close this
part of my work.

To the east of Veragua, the last province
subject to the viceroy of Mexico, lies the
isthmus of Darien. Though it was in this
part of the continent that the Spaniards &st
began to plant colonies, they have made no
considerable progress in peopling it. As thje
country is extremely mountainous, deluged
with rain during a good part of the year, re-
markably unhealthful, and contains no mines
of great value, the Spaniards would probably
have abandoned it altogether, if they had not
been allured to continue by the excellence of
the harbour of Porto-bello on the one sea, and
that of Panama on the other. These have
been called the keys to the communication
between the north and south sea, between
Spain and her most valuable colonies. In
consequence of this advantage, Panama has
become a considerable and thriving town.
The peculiar noxiousness of its climate has
prevented Porto-bello from increasing in the
same proportion. As the intercourse with the
1 B 4

HISTORY- OF AMERICA,

B o o K settlements in the Pacific Ocean is now
VIL carried on by another channel, it is probable
that both Porto-bello and Panama will de-
cline, when no longer nourished and en-
riched by that commerce to which they were
indebted for their prosperity, and even their
existence.

Cartha- THE provinces of Carthagena and Santa
Santa Martha stretch to the eastward of the isthmus
of Darien. The country still continues moun-
tainous, but its valleys begin to expand, are
well watered, and extremely fertile. Pedro
de Heredia subjected this part of America to
the crown of Spain, about the year 1532. It
is thinly peopled, and of course ill cultivated.
It produces, however, a variety of valuable
drugs, and some precious stones, particularly
emeralds. But its chief importance is de-
rived from the harbour of Carthagena, the
safest and best fortified of any in the American
dominions of Spain. In a situation so fa-
vourable, commerce soon began to flourish.
As early as the year 1544, it seems to have
been a town of some note. But when Cartha-
gena was chosen as the port in which the
galeons should first begin to trade on their
arrival from Europe, and to which they were
directed to return, in order to prepare for

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 377

their voyage homeward, ,the commerce of its BOOK
inhabitants was so much favoured by this ^
arrangement, that it soon became one of the
most populous, opulent, and beautiful cities
in America. There is, however, reason to
apprehend, that it has. reached its highest
point of exaltation, and that it will be so far
affected by the change in the Spanish system
of trade with America, which has withdrawn
from it the desirable visits of the galeons, as
to feel at least a temporary decline. But the
wealth now collected there, will soon find or
create employment for itself, and may be
turned with advantage into some new chan-
nel. Its harbour is so safe, and so conve-
niently situated for receiving commodities
from Europe, its merchants have been so long
accustomed to convey these into all the adja-
cent provinces, that it is probable they will
still retain this branch of trade, and Car-
thagena continue to be a city of great im-
portance.

THE province contiguous to Santa Martha Venezuela.
on the east, was first visited by Alonso de
Ojeda, in the year 1499 u ; and the Spaniards,
en their landing there, having observed some

u Bookii. vol.i. p. 209.

HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK huts in an Indian village built upon piles, in
order to raise thorn above the stagnated water
which covered the plain, were led to bestow
upon it the name of Venezuela, or Little
Venice, by their usual propensity to find a
resemblance between what they discovered in
America, and the objects which were familiar
to them in Europe. They made some at-
tempts to settle there, but with little success.
The final reduction of the province was ac-
complished by means very different from those
to which Spain was indebted for its other
acquisitions in the New World. The ambi-
tion of Charles V. often engaged him in
operations of such variety and extent, that
his revenues were not sufficient to defray
the expense of carrying them into execution.
Among other expedients for supplying the
deficiency of his funds, he had borrowed
large sums from the Velsers of Augsburgh,
the most opulent merchants at that time in
Europe. By way of retribution for these, or
in hopes, perhaps, of obtaining a new loan,
he bestowed upon them the province of Ve-
nezuela, to be held as an hereditary fief from
the crown of Castile, on condition that within
a limited time they should render themselves
masters of the country, and establish a colony
there. Under the direction of such persons,

HISTORY OF AMERICA. 379

it might have been expected, that a settle- BOOK
ment would have been established on maxims
very different from those of the Spaniards,
and better calculated to encourage such use-
ful industry, as mercantile proprietors might
have known to be the most certain source of
prosperity and opulence. But unfortunately
they committed the execution of their plan
to some of those soldiers of fortune with which
Germany abounded in the sixteenth century.
These adventurers, impatient to amass riches,
that they might speedily abandon a station
which they soon discovered to be very un-
comfortable, instead of planting a colony in
order to cultivate arid improve the country,
wandered from district to district in search of
mines, plundering the natives with unfeeling
rapacity, or oppressing them by the imposi-
tion of intolerable tasks. In the course of a
few years, their avarice and exactions, in com-
parison with which those of the Spaniards
were moderate, desolated the province so;
completely, that it could hardly afford them
subsistence, and the Velsers relinquished a
property from which the inconsiderate conduct
of their agents left them no hope of ever de-
riving any advantage.* When the wretched

w Civedo y Bagnos Hist, de Venezuela, p. 11, Sec.

380 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK remainder of the Germans deserted Vene-
VIL zuela, the Spaniards again took possession of
it ; but notwithstanding many natural advan-
tages, it is one of their most languishing and
unproductive settlements.

Caraccas THE provinces of Caraccas and Cumana are
mana. the last of the Spanish territories on this coast ;
but in relating the origin and operations of
the mercantile company, in which an exclusive
right of trade with them has been vested, I
shall hereafter have occasion to consider their
state and productions.

THE New Kingdom of Granada is entirely
an inland country of great extent. This im-
portant addition was made to the dominions
of Spain about the year 1536, by Sebastian de
Benalcazar and Gonzalo Ximenes de Quesada,
two of the bravest and most accomplished of-
ficers employed in the conquest of America.
The former, who commanded at that time in
Quito, attacked it from the south ; the latter
made his invasion from Santa Martha on the
north. As the original inhabitants of this re-
gion were farther advanced in improvement,
than any people in America but the Mexicans.
and Peruvians3", they defended themselves with

.*

* Book iv. vol. ix. p. HI, &c*

iz

HISTORY OF AMERICA, 381

great resolution and good conduct. The abi- BOOK
litres and perseverance of Benalcasar and Que-
sada surmounted all opposition, though not
without encountering many dangers, and re-
duced the country into the form of a Spanish
province.

THE New Kingdom of Granada is so far ele-
vated above the level of the sea, that though
it approaches almost to the equator, the cli-
mate is remarkably temperate. The fertility
of its valleys is not inferior to that of the richest
districts in America, and its higher grounds
yield gold and precious stones of various kinds.
It is not by digging into the bowels of the
earth that this gold is found; it is mingled
with the soil near the surface, and separated
from it by repeated washing with water. This
operation is carried on wholly by negro slaves ;
for though the chill subterranean air has been
discovered, by experience, to be so fatal to
them, that they cannot be employed with ad-
vantage in the deep silver mines, they are more
capable of performing the other species of
labour than Indians. As the natives in the
New Kingdom of Granada are exempt from
that service, which has wasted their race so
rapidly in other parts of America, the country
is still remarkably populous, Some districts

382 HISTORY OF AMERICA.

BOOK yield gold with a profusion no less wonderful
than that in the, vale of Cineguilla, which I
have formerly mentioned, and it is often found
in large pepitas, or grains, which manifest the
abundance in which it is produced. On a
rising ground near Pamplona, single labourers
have collected in a day what was equal in value
to a thousand pesos/ A late governor of
Santa Fe brought with him to Spain a lump of
pure gold, estimated to be worth seven hun-
dred and forty pounds sterling. This, which
is, perhaps, the largest and finest specimen
ever found in the New World, is now depo-
sited in the royal cabinet of Madrid. But
without founding any calculation on what is
rare and extraordinary, the value of the gold
usually collected in this country, particularly in
the provinces of Popayan and Choco is of con-
siderable amount. Its towns are populous and
flourishing. The number of inhabitants in
almost every part of the country daily in-
creases. Cultivation and industry of various
kinds begin to be encouraged, and to prosper.
A considerable trade is carried on with Car-
thagena, the produce of the mines, and other
commodities, being conveyed down the great
river of St. Magdalene to that city. On another

y Piedrahita Hist, del N. Reyno, p. 481. MS. penes me.

HfSTORY OF AMERICA. 383

quarter, the New Kingdom of Granada has B o o K
a communication with the Atlantic by the vn*
river Orinoco; but the country which stretches
along its banks towards the east, is little
known ; and imperfectly occupied by the
Spaniards.

4 NOTES

AND

ILLUSTRATIONS.

NOTE I. p. 4.

T\E SOLIS contends, that as Narvaez had no inter-
-"•^ preters, he could hold no intercourse with the peo-
ple of the provinces, nor converse with them in any way
but by signs, and that it was equally impossible for
him to carry on any communication with Montezuma.
Liv. iv. c. f. But it is upon the authority of Cortes,
himself, that I relate all the particulars of Narvaez's
correspondence both with Montezuma and with his
subjects in the maritime provinces. Relat. Ramus.
iii. 244, A. C. Cortes affirms, that there was a mode
of intercourse between Narvaez and the Mexicans,
but does not explain how it was carried on. Bernal
Diaz supplies this defect, and informs us, that the three
deserters who joined Narvaez acted as interpreters,
having acquired a competent knowledge of the lan-
guage, c. 110. With his usual minuteness, he men-
tions-their names and characters, and relates, in
chapter 122., how they were punished for their perfidy.
The Spaniards had now resided above a year among
the Mexicans ; and it is not surprising, that several

VOL. 111. C C

686 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

among them should have made some proficiency in
speaking their language. This seems to have been
the case. Herrera, dec. 2. lib. x. c. 1. Both B. Diaz,
who was present, and Herrera, the most accurate and
best informed of all the Spanish writers, agree with
Cortes in his account of the secret correspondence car-
ried on with Montezuma. Dec. 2. lib. x. c.18, 19.
De Solis seems to consider it as a discredit to Cortes,
his hero, that Montezuma should have been ready to
engage in a correspondence with Narvaez, He sup-
poses that monarch to have contracted such a wonderful
affection for the Spaniards, that he was not solicitous
to be delivered from them. After the indignity with
which he had been treated, such an affection is incre-
dible ; and even De Solis is obliged to acknowledge,
that it must be looked upon as one of the miracles
which God had wrought to facilitate the conquest,
lib. iv. c. 7« The truth is, Montezuma, however much
overawed by his dread of the Spaniards, was extremely
impatient to recover his liberty.

NOTE II. p. 23.

THESE words I have borrowed from the anonymous
Account of the European Settlements in America,
published by Dodsley, in two volumes 8vo.; a work of
so much merit, that I should think there is hardly
any writer in the age who ought to be ashamed of ac-
knowledging himself to be the author of it.

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 387

NOTE III. p. 30.

THE contemporary historians differ considerably
with respect to the loss of the Spaniards on this occa-
sion. Cortes, in his second dispatch to the Emperor,
makes the number only 150. Relat. ap. Ramus. iii.
p. 249. A. But it was manifestly his interest, at that
juncture, to conceal from the court of Spain the full
extent of the loss which he had sustained. De Solis,
always studious to diminish every misfortune that befel
his countrymen, rates their loss at about two hundred
men. Lib. iv. c. 1 9.- B. Diaz affirms, that they lost
870 men, and that only 440 escaped from Mexico,
c. 128. p. 108. B. Palafox, Bishop of Los Angeles,
who seems to have enquired into the early transactions
of his countrymen in New Spain, with great attention,
confirms the account of B.Diaz, with respect to the
extent of their loss. Virtudes del Indio, p. 22.
Gomara states their loss at 450 men. Cron. c. 109.
Some months afterwards, when Cortes had received
several reinforcements, he mustered his troops, and
found them to be only 590. Relat. ap. Ramus. iii.
p. 255. E. Now, as Narvaez brought 880 men into
New Spain, and about 400 of Cortes's soldiers were
then alive, it is evident that his loss, in the retreat from
Mexico, must have been much more considerable than
what he mentions. B. Diaz, solicitous to magnify
the dangers and sufferings to which he and his fellow-
conquerors were exposed, may have exaggerated their
loss ; but, in my opinion, it cannot well be estimated
at less than 600 men.

C C 2

388 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

tfOTE IV. p. 56.

SOME remains of this great work are still visible, and
the spot where the brigantines were built and launched,
is still pointed out to strangers. Torquemada viewed
them. Monarq. Indiana, vol. i. p. 531.

NOTE V. p. 65.

THE station of Alvarado on the causeway of Tacuba
was the nearest to the city. Cortes observes, that there
they could distinctly observe what passed when their
countrymen were sacrificed. Relat. ap. Ramus. iij.
p. 273. E. B. Diaz, who belonged to Alvarado's
division, relates what he beheld with his own eyes.
C. 152. p. 148. b. 149. a. Like a man whose cou-
rage was so clear as to be above suspicion, he describes
with his usual simplicity the impression which this
spectacle made upon him. " Before," says he, " I saw
the breasts of my companions opened, their hearts
yet fluttering, offered to an accursed idol, and their
flesh devoured by their exulting enemies ; I was ac-
customed to enter a battle not only without fear, but
with high spirit. But from that time I never ad-
vanced to fight the Mexicans without a secret horror
and anxiety ; my heart trembled at the thoughts of
the death which I had seen them suffer." He takes
care to add, that as soon as the combat began, his
terror went off; and indeed, his adventurous bravery
on every occasion is full evidence of this. B. Diaz,
c. 156. p. 157. a.

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

NOTE VI. p. 73.

ONE circumstance in this siege merits particular
notice. The account which the Spanish writers give
of the numerous armies employed in the attack or
defence of Mexico seems to be incredible. According
to Cortes himself, he had at one time 150,000 auxili-
ary Indians in his service. Relat Ramus. iii. 275. E.
Gomara asserts, that they were above 200,000. Cron.
c. 136. Herrera, an author of higher authority, says,
they were about 200,000. Dec. 3. lib. i. c. 19. None
of the contemporary writers ascertain explicitly the
number of persons in Mexico during the siege. But
Cortes on several occasions mentions the number of
Mexicans who were slain, or who perished for want
of food ; and, if we may rely on those circumstances,
it is probable that above two hundred thousand must
have been shut up in the town. But the quantity of
provisions necessary for the subsistence of such vast
multitudes assembled in one place, during three
months, is so great, that it requires so much foresight
and arrangement to collect these, and lay them up in
magazines, so as to be certain of a regular supply,
that one can hardly believe that this could be accom-
plished in a country where agriculture was so imper-
fect as in the Mexican empire, where there were no
tame animals, and by a people naturally so impro-
vident, and so incapable of executing a complicated
plan, as the most improved Americans. The Spa-
niards, with all their care and attention, fared very
poorly, and were often reduced to extreme distress for
want of provisions. B. Diaz, p. 142. Cortes Relat.
cc 3

390 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

271. D. Cortes on one occasion mentions slightly
the subsistence of Ins army; and after acknowledging
that they were often in great want, adds, that they
received supplies from the people of the country, of
fish, and of some fruit, which he calls the cherries of
the country. Ibid. B. Diaz says, that they had cakes
of maize, and serasas de la tierra; and when the
season of these was over, another fruit, which he calls
Tunas ; but their most comfortable subsistence was a
root which the Indians use as food, to which he gives
the name of Quilztes, p. 142. The Indian auxiliaries
had one means of subsistence more than the Spaniards*
They fed upon the bodies of the Mexicans whom they
killed in battle. Cort. Relat. 176. C. B. Diaz con-
firms his relation, and adds, that when the Indians
returned from Mexico to their own country, they
carried with them large quantities of the flesh of the
Mexicans salted or dried, as a most acceptable present
to their friends, that they might have the pleasure
of feeding upon the bodies of their enemies in their
festivals, p. 157. De Solis, who seems to consider it
as an imputation of discredit to his countrymen, that
they should act in concert with auxiliaries who fed
upon human flesh, is solicitous to prove that the Spa-
niards endeavoured to prevent their associates from
eating the bodies of the Mexicans, lib. v. c. 24. But
he has no authority for this from the original historians.
Neither Cortes himself, nor B.Diaz, seem to have had
any such scruple ; and, on many occasions, mention
the Indian repasts, which were become familiar to
them, without any mark of abhorrence. Even with
this additional stock of food for the Indians, it was
hardly possible to procure subsistence for armies

12

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 391

amounting to such numbers as we find in the Spanish
writers. Perhaps the best solution of the difficulty is,
to adopt the opinion of B. Diaz del Castillo, the most
artless of all the Historiadores primitives. " When
Gomara (says he) on some occasions relates, that there
were so many thousand Indians our auxiliaries, and
on others, that there were so many thousand houses
in this or that town, no regard is to be paid to his
enumeration, as he has no authority for it, the num-
bers not being in reality the fifth of what he relates.
If we add together the different numbers which he
mentions, that country would contain more millions
than there are in Castile." C. 129. But though some
considerable deduction should certainly be made from
the Spanish accounts of the Mexican forces, they must
have been very numerous ; for nothing but an immense
superiority in number could have enabled them to
withstand a body of nine hundred Spaniards, con-
ducted by a leader of such abilities as Cortes.

NOTE VII. p. 92.

IN relating the oppressive and cruel proceedings of
the conquerors of New Spain, I have not followed
B. de las Casas as my guide* • His account of them,
Relat. de la Destruyc. p. ,18, &c. is manifestly ex-
aggerated. It is from the testimony of Cortes himself,
and of Gomara, who wrote under his eye, that j I
have taken my account of the punishment of the
Panucans, , and, they relate it without any disappro-
bation. B. Diaz, contrary to his usual custom,
mentions it only in general terms, c* 1 62. Herrera,
solicitous to extenuate this barbarous action of his
<Tc 4

39% NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS,

countrymen, though he mentions 63 caziques, and
400 men of note, as being condemned to the flames,
asserts, that thirty 6nly were burnt, and the rest par-
doned. Dec. 3. lib. v. c. 7« But this is contrary to
the testimony of the original historians, particularly
of Gomara, whom it appears he had consulted, as he
adopts several of his expressions in this passage. The
punishment of Guatimozin is related by the most
authentic of the Spanish writers. Torquemada has
extracted from a history of Tezeuco, composed in the
Mexican tongue, an account of this transaction, more
favourable to Guatimozin than that of the Spanish
authors. Mon. Indiana, i. 575. According to the
Mexican account, Cortes had scarcely a shadow of
evidence to justify such a wanton act of cruelty.
B. Diaz affirms, that Guatimozin and his fellow-
sufferers asserted their innocence with their last breath,
and that many of the Spanish soldiers condemned this
action of Cortes as equally unnecessary and unjust,
p. 200. b.201. a.

NOTE VIII. p. 95.

THE motive for undertaking this expedition was, to
punish Christoval de Olid, one of his officers who
had revolted against him, and aimed at establishing
an independent jurisdiction. Cortes regarded this in-
surrection as of such dangerous example, and dreaded
so much the abilities and popularity of its author, that
in person he led the body of troops destined to sup-
press it. He marched, according to Gomara, three
thousand miles, through a country abounding with
thick forests, rugged mountains, deep rivers, thinly

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 393

inhabited, and cultivated only in a few places. What
he suffered from famine, from the hostility of the
natives, from the climate, and from hardships of every
species, has nothing in history parallel to it, but what
occurs in the adventures of the other discoverers and
conquerors of the New World. Cortes was employed
in this dreadful service above two years ; and though
it was not distinguished by any splendid event, he
exhibited, during the course of it, greater personal
courage, more fortitude of mind, more perseverance
and patience, than in any other period or scene in his
life. Herrera, dec. 3. lib. vi. vii. viii. ix. Gomara
Cron. c. 163— 177. B.Diaz, 174—190. Cortes,
MS. penes me. Were one to write a life of Cortes,
the account of this expedition should occupy a splen-
did place in it. In a general history of America, as
the expedition was productive of no great event, the
mention of it is sufficient.

NOTE IX. p. 97.

ACCORDING to Herrera, the treasure which Cortes
brought with him, consisted of fifteen hundred marks
of wrought plate, two hundred thousand pesos of fine
gold, and ten thousand of inferior standard, many
rich jewels, one in particular worth forty thousand
pesos, and several trinkets and ornaments of value.
Dec, 4. lib. iii. c. 8. lib. iv. c. 1. He afterwards en-
gaged to give a portion with his daughter of a hun-
dred thousand pesos. Gomara Cron. c. 237- The
fortune which he left his sons was very considerable.
But as we have before related, the sum divided among
the conquerors, on the first reduction of Mexico, was

394 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

very small. There appears, then, to be some reason
for suspecting that the accusations of Cortes's enemies
were not altogether destitute of foundation. They
charged him with having applied to his own use a
disproportionate share of the Mexican spoils ; with
having concealed the royal treasures of Montezuma
and Guatimozin ; with defrauding the King of his
fifth ; and robbing his followers of what was due to
them. Herrcjra, dec. 3. lib. viii. c. 15. dec. 4. lib. Hi.
c.8. Some of the conquerors themselves entertained
suspicions of the same kind with respect to this part
of his conduct. B.Diaz, c. 157.

NOTE X. p. 104.

IN tracing the progress of the Spanish arms in
New Spain, we have followed Cortes himself as our
most certain guide. His dispatches to the Emperor
contain a minute account of his operations. But
the unlettered conqueror of Peru was incapable of
relating his own exploits. Our information with
respect to them, and other transactions in Peru, is
derived, however, from contemporary and respectable
authors.

THE most early account of Pizarro's transactions
in Peru was published by Francisco de Xerez, his
secretary. It is a simple unadorned narrative, carried
down no farther than the death of Atahualpa, in
1533 ; for the author returned to Spain in 1534, and,
soon after he landed, printed at Seville his short
History of the Conquest of Peru, addressed to the
Emperor.

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 395

BON PEDRO SANCHO, an officer who served under
Pizarro, drew up an account of his expedition, which
was translated into Italian by Ramusio, and inserted
in his valuable collection, but has never been pub-
lished in its original language Sancho returned to
Spain at the same time with Xerez. Great, credit is
due to what both these authors relate concerning the
progress and operations of Pizarro ; but the residence
of the Spaniards in Peru had been so short, at the
time when they left it, and their intercourse with the
natives so slender, that their knowledge of the Peru-
vian manners and customs is very imperfect.

THE next contemporary historian is Pedro Cieza
de Leon, who published his Cronica. del Peru, at
Seville in 1553. If he had finished all that he pro-
poses in the general division of his work, it would have
been the most complete history which had been pub-
lished of any region in the New World. . . He was
well qualified to execute it, having served during
seventeen years in America, and having visited in
person most of the provinces concerning which he
had occasion to write. But only the first part of his
chronicle has been printed. It contains a description
of Peru, and several of the adjacent provinces, with
an account of the institutions and customs of the
natives, and is written with so little art, and such an
apparent regard for truth, that one must regret the
loss of the other parts of his work.

THIS loss is amply supplied by Don Augijstine
Zarate, who published, in 1555, his Historia del
Descubrimiento y Conquesta de la Provincia del Peru.

396 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

Zarate was a man of rank and education, and em~
ployed in Peru as cgmptroller-general of the public
revenue. His history, whether we attend to its matter
or composition, ' is a book of considerable merit ; as
he had an opportunity to be well informed, and seems
to have been inquisitive with respect to the manners
and transactions of the Peruvians, great credit is due
to his testimony.

DON DIEGO FERNANDEZ published his Historia
del Peru in 1571. His sole object is to relate the
dissensions and civil wars of the Spaniards in that
empire. As he served in a public station in Peru,
and was well acquainted both with the country, and
with the principal actors in those singular scenes
which he describes, as he possessed sound understand-
ing and great impartiality, his work may be ranked
among those of the historians most distinguished for
their industry in research, or their capacity in judging
with respect to the events which they relate.

THE last author who can be reckoned among the
contemporary historians of the conquest of Peru, is
Garcilasso de la Vega, Inca. For though the first
part of his work, entitled Commentaries Reales del
Origin de los Incas Reies del Peru, was not published
sooner than the year 1609, seventy-six years after
the death of Atahualpa the last Emperor, yet as he
was born in Peru, and was the son of an officer
of distinction among the Spanish conquerors, by
a Caya, or lady of the royal race, on account of
which he always took the name of Inca ; as he was
master of the language spoken by the Incas, and

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 897

acquainted with the traditions of his countrymen, his
authority is rated very high, and often placed above
that of all the other historians. His work, however,
is little more than a commentary upon the Spanish,
writers of the Peruvian story, and composed of quo-
tations taken from the'authors whom I have mentioned.
This is the idea which he himself gives of of it, lib. i.
c. 10. Nor is it in the account of facts only that he
follows them servilely. Even in explaining the insti-
tutions and rites of his ancestors, his information
seems not to be more perfect than theirs. His expla-
nation of the Quipos is almost the same with that of
Acosta. He produces no specimen of Peruvian poetry,
but that wretched one which he borrows from Bias
Valera, an early missionary, whose memoirs have
never been published. Lib. ii. c. 1 5. As for com-
position, arrangement, or a capacity of distinguishing
between what is fabulous, what is probable, and what
is true, one searches for them in vain in the comment-
aries of the Inca. His work, however, notwithstand-
ing its great defects, is not altogether destitute of use.
Some traditions which he received from his country-
men are preserved in it. His knowledge of the Peru-
vian language has enabled him to correct some errors
of the Spanish writers, and he has inserted in it some
curious facts taken from authors whose works were
never published, and are now lost.

NOTE XL p. 110.

ONE may form an idea both of the hardships which
they endured, and of the unhealthful climate in the
regions which they visited, from the extraordinary.

398 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

mortality that prevailed among them. Pizarro carried
out 112 men, Almagro 70. In less than nine months
1 30 of these died. Few fell by the sword ; most of
them were cut off by diseases. Xeres, p. 180.

NOTE XII. p. 114.

THIS island, says Herrera, is rendered so uncom-
fortable by the unwholesomeness of its climate, its im-
penetrable woods, its rugged mountains, and the mul-
titude of insects and reptiles, that it is seldom any
softer epithet than that of infernal is employed in
describing it. The sun is almost never seen there,
and throughout the year it hardly ever ceases to rain.
Dec. 3. lib. x. c. 3. Dampier touched at this island
in the year 1685 ; and his account of the climate is
not more favourable. Vol. i. p. 172. He during his
cruise on the coast, visited most of the places where
Pizarro landed, and his description of them throws
light on the narrations of the early Spanish histo-
rians.

NOTE Xin. p. 135.

BY this time horses had multiplied greatly in the
Spanish settlements on the continent. When Cortes
began his expedition in the year 1518, though his
armament was more considerable than that of Pizarro,
and composed of persons superior in rank to those
who invaded Peru, he could procure no more than
sixteen horses.

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

NOTE XIVi p. 136.

IN the year 1740, D. Ant. Ulloa, and D. George
Juan, travelled from Guayquil to Motupe, by the
same route which Pizarro took. From the description
of their journey, one may form an idea of the diffi-
culty of his march. The sandy plains between St.
Michael de Pieura and Motupe, extend 90 miles,
without water, without a tree, a plant, or any green
thing, on a dreary stretch of burning sand. Voyage,
torn. i. p. 399, &c.

NOTE XV. p. 143.

THIS extravagant and unseasonable discourse of
Valverde has been censured by all historians, and with
justice. But though he seems to have been an illite-
terate and bigotted monk, nowise resembling the good
Olmedo, who accompanied Cortes ; the absurdity of
his address to Atahualpa must not be charged wholly
upon him. His harangue is evidently a translation or
paraphrase of that form, concerted by a junto of
Spanish divines and lawyers in the year 1509, for ex-
plaining the right of their King to the sovereignty of
the New World, and for directing the officers em-
ployed in America how they should take possession of
any new country. See Vol. i. Note xxiii. The sen-
timents contained in Valverde's harangue must not
then be imputed to the bigotted imbecillity of a parti-
cular man, but to that of the age. But Gomara and
Benzoni relate one circumstance concerning Valverde,
which, if authentic, renders him an object, not of

340 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

contempt only, but of horror. They assert, that dur-
ing the whole action Valverde continued to excite the
soldiers to slaughter, calling to them to strike the
enemy, not with the edge, but with the points of
their swords. Gom. Chron. c. 113. Benz. Histor.
Nov. Orbis, lib. in. c. 3. Such behaviour was very
different from that of the Roman Catholic clergy in
other parts of America, where they uniformly exerted
their influence to protect the Indians, and to mode-
rate the ferocity of their countrymen.

NOTE XVI. p. 144.

Two different systems have been formed concerning
the conduct of Atahualpa. The Spanish writers, in
order to justify the violence of their countrymen,
contend that all the Inca's professions of friendship
were feigned ; and that his intention in agreeing to
an interview with Pizarro at Caxamalca, was to cut
off him and his followers at one blow ; that for this
purpose he advanced with such a numerous body o
attendants, who had arms concealed under their gar-
ments to execute this scheme. This is the account
given by Xerez and Zarate, and adopted by Herrera.
But if it had been the plan of the Inca to destroy the
Spaniards, one can hardly imagine that he would have
permitted them to march unmolested through the
desert of Motupe, or have neglected to defend the
passes in the mountains, where they might have been
attacked with so much advantage. If the Peruvians
marched to Caxamalca with an intention to fall upon
the Spaniards, it is inconceivable that of so great a
body of men, prepared for action, not one should

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 401

attempt to make resistance, but all tamely suffer them-
selves to be butchered by an enemy whom they were
armed to attack. Atahualpa's mode of advancing to
the interview has the aspect of a peaceable procession,
not of a military enterprise. He himself and his
followers were, in their habits of ceremony, preceded,
as on days of solemnity, by unarmed harbingers.
Though rude nations are frequently cunning and false,
yet, if a scheme of deception and treachery must be
imputed either to a monarch, that had no great reason
to be alarmed at a visit from strangers who solicited
admission into his presence as friends, or to an adven-
turer so daring, and so little scrupulous as Pizarro,
one cannot hesitate in determining where to fix the
presumption of guilt. Even amidst the endeavours
of the Spanish writers to palliate the proceedings of
Pizarro, one plainly perceives that it was his intention,
as well as his interest, to seize the Inca, and that he
had taken measures for that purpose previous to any
suspicion of that monarch's designs.

GARCILASSO DE LA VEGA, extremely solicitous to
vindicate his countrymen, the Peruvians, from the
crime of having concerted the destruction of Pizarro
and his followers, and no less afraid to charge the
Spaniards with improper conduct towards the Inca,
has framed another system. He relates, that a man of
majestic form, with a long beard, and garments reach-
ing to the ground, having appeared in a vision to
Viracocha, the eighth Inca, and declared that he was
a child of the Sun, that monarch built a temple in
honour of this person, and erected an image of him,*
resembling as nearly as possible the singular form in

. III. D D

402 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

which he had exhibited himself to his view. In thi*
temple divine honours were paid to him, by the name
of Viracocha. P. i. lib. iv. c. 21. lib. v. c. 22. When
the Spaniards first appeared in Peru, the length of
their beards, and the dress they wore struck every
person so much with their likeness to the image of
Viracocha, that they supposed them to be children of
the Sun, who had descended from heaven to earth.
All concluded, that the fatal period of the Peruvian
empire was now approaching, and that the throne
would be occupied by new possessors. Atahualpa
himself, considering the Spaniards as messengers from
heaven, was so far from entertaining any thoughts of
resisting them, that he determined to yield implicit
obedience to their commands. From these sentiments
flowed his professions of love and respect. To those
were owing the cordial reception of Soto and Ferdi-
nand Pizarro in his camp, and the submissive reve-
rence with which he himself advanced to visit the
Spanish general in his quarters; but from the gross
ignorance of Philipillo, the interpreter, the declaration
of the Spaniards, and his answer to it, were so ill
explained, that by their mutual inability to compre-
hend each other's intentions, the fatal rencounter at
Caxamalca, with all its dreadful consequences, was
occasioned.

IT is remarkable, that no traces of this superstitious
veneration of the Peruvians for the Spaniards, are to
be found either in Xerez, or Sancho, or Zarate, pre-
vious to the interview at Caxamalca ; and yet the two
former served under Pizarro at that time, and the
latter visited Peru soon after the conquest. If either

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 403

the Inca himself, or his messengers, had addressed the
Spaniards in the words which Garcilasso puts in their
mouths, they must have been struck with such sub-
missive declarations ; and they would certainly have
availed themselves of them to accomplish their own
designs with greater facility. Garcilasso himself,
though his narrative of the intercourse between the
Inca and Spaniards, preceding the rencounter atCaxa-
malca, is founded on the supposition of his believing
them to be Viracochas, or divine beings, p. ii. lib. i.
c. 17, &c., yet with his usual inattention and inaccu-
racy, he admits, in another place, that the Peruvians
did not recollect the resemblance between them and
the god Viracocha, until the fatal disasters subsequent
to the defeat at Caxamalca, and then only began to
call them Viracochas. P. i. lib. v. c. 21. This is
confirmed by Herrera, dec. 5. lib. ii. c. 12. In many
different parts of America, if we may believe the
Spanish writers, their countrymen were considered as
divine beings who had descended from heaven. But
in this instance, as in many which occur in the inter-
course between nations whose progress in refinement
is very unequal, the ideas of those who used the ex-
pression were different from the ideas of those who
heard it. For such is the idiom of the Indian lan-
guages, or such is the simplicity of those who speak
them, that when they see any thing with which they
were formerly unacquainted, and of which they do not
know the origin, they say, that it came down from
heaven. Nugnez. Ram. iii. 327. C.

THE account which I have giren of the sentimentt
and proceedings of the Peruvians, appears to be more
p D 2

404 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

natural and consistent than either of the two preceding,
and is better supported by the facts related by the con-
temporary historians.

ACCORDING to Xerez, p. 200., two thousand Peru-
vians were killed. Sancho makes the number of the
. slain six or seven thousand. Ram. iii. 274. D. By

Garcilasso's account, five thousand were massacred.
P. ii. lib. i. c. 25. The number which I have men-
tioned, being the medium between the extremes9 may
probably be nearest the truth.

NOTE XVII. p. 146.

NOTHING can be a more striking proof of this, than
that three Spaniards travelled from Caxamalca to
Cuzco. The distance between them is six hundred
miles. In every place throughout this great extent of
country, they were treated with all the honours which
the Peruvians paid to their sovereigns, and even to
their divinities. Under pretext of amassing what was
wanting for the ransom of the Inca, they demanded
the plates of gold with which the walls of the Temple
of the Sun in Cuzco were adorned ; and though the
priests were unwilling to alienate those sacred orna-
ments, and the people refused to violate the shrine of
their God, the three Spaniards, with their own hands,
robbed the Temple of part of this valuable treasure ;
and such was the reverence of the natives for their
persons that though they beheld this act of sacrilege
with astonishment, they did not attempt to prevent or
disturb the commission of it. Zarate, lib. ii. c. 6.
Sancho ap. Ramus, iii. 375. D.

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 40,5

NOTE XVIII. p. 161.

ACCORDING to Herrera, the spoil of Cuzco, after
setting apart the King'sJiftA, was divided among 480
persons. Each received 4000 pesos. This amounts
to 1,920,000 pesos. Dec. v. lib. vi. c. 3. But as the
general, and other officers, were entitled to a share far
greater than that of the private men, the sum total must
have risen much beyond what I have mentioned. Go-
mara, c. 123. and Zarate, lib. ii. c. 8. satisfy themselves
with asserting in general, that the plunder of Cuzco
was of greater value than the ransom of Atahualpa.

NOTE XIX. p. 164.

No expedition in the New World was conducted
with more persevering courage than that of Alvarado,
and in none were greater hardships endured. Many
of the persons engaged in it were, like their leader,
veterans who had served under Cortes, inured to all
the rigour of American war. Such of ray readers as
have not an opportunity of perusing the striking
description of their sufferings by Zarate or Herrera,
may form some idea of the nature of their march
from the sea-coast to Quito, by consulting the account
which D. Ant. Ulloa gives of his own journey in
1736, nearly in the same route. Voy. torn. i. p. 178,
&c., or that of M. Bouguer, who proceeded from
Puerto Viejo to Quito, by the same road which Alva-
rado took. He compares his own journey with that
of the Spanish leader, and by the comparison gives a
D D 3

406 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

most striking idea of the boldness and patience of
Alvarado, in forcing his way through so many obsta-
cles. Voyage du Perou, p. 28, &c.

NOTE XX. p. 165.

ACCORDING to Herrera, there was entered on ao
count of the King in gold 155,300 pesos, and 5400
marks (each 8 ounces) of silver, besides several vessels
and ornaments, some of gold, and others of silver ; on
account of private persons, in gold 499,000 pesos, and
54,000 marks of silver. Dec. 5. lib. vi. c. 13.

NOTE XXI. p. 175.

THE Peruvians not only imitated the military arts of
the Spaniards, but had recourse to devices of their
own. As the cavalry were the chief objects of their
terror, they endeavoured to render them incapable of
acting by means of a long thong with a stone fastened
to each end. This, when thrown by a skilful hand,
twisted about the horse and its rider, and entangled
them so as to obstruct their motions. Herrera men-
tions this as an invention of their own. Dec. 5.
lib. viii. c. 4. But as I have observed, vol. ii. p. 176.
this weapon is common among several barbarous tribes
towards the extremity of South America ; and it is
more probable that the Peruvians had observed the
dexterity with which they used it in hunting, and on
this occasion adopted it themselves. The Spaniards
were considerably annoyed by it, Herrera, ibid. An-
other instance of the ingenuity of the Peruvians
deserves mention. By turning a river out of its

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 407

channel, they overflowed a valley, in which a body of
the enemy was posted, so suddenly, that it was with
the utmost difficulty the Spaniards made their escape.
Herrera, dec. 5. lib.viii. c. 5.

NOTE XXII. p. 198.

HERRERA'S account of Orellana's voyage is the most
minute, and apparently the most accurate. It was
probably taken from the journal of Orellana himself.
But the dates are not distinctly marked. His naviga-
tion down the Coca, or Napo, begun early in February
1541; and he arrived at the mouth of the river on
the 26th of August, having spent near seven months
in the voyage. M. de la Condamine, in the year
1743, sailed from Cuenca to Para, a settlement of the
Portuguese at the mouth of the river, a navigation
much longer than that of Orellana, in less than four
months. Voyage, p. 179. But the two adventurers
were very differently provided for the voyage* This
hazardous undertaking, to which ambition prompted
Orellana, and to which the love of science led M. de la
Condamine, was undertaken in the year 1769, by
Madame Godin des Odonais, from conjugal affection.
The narrative of the hardships which she suffered, of
the dangers to which she was exposed, and of the dis-
asters which befel her, is one of the most singular and
affecting stories in any language, exhibiting in her con-
duct a striking picture of the fortitude which distin-
guishes the one sex, mingled with the sensibility and
tenderness peculiar to the other. Lettre de M. Godin
a M. de la Condamine.

D D 4

408 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

NOTE XXIII. p. 203.

HERRERA gives a striking picture of their indigence.
Twelve gentlemen, who had been officers of distinction
under Almagro, lodged in the same house, and having
but one cloak among them, it was worn alternately
by him who had occasion to appear in public, while
the rest, from the want of a decent dress, were
obliged to keep within doors. Their former friends
and companions were so much afraid of giving offence
to Pizarro, that they durst not entertain or even
converse with them. One may conceive what was
the condition, and what the indignation of men once
accustomed to power and opulence, when they felt
themselves poor and despised, without a rpof under
which to shelter their heads, while they beheld others,
whose merit and services were not equal to theirs,
living in splendour in sumptuous edifices. Dec. 6.
lib. viii. c. 6.

NOTE XXIV. p. 218.

JIERRERA, whose accuracy entitles him to great
credit, asserts, that Gonzalo Pizarro possessed do-
mains in the neighbourhood of Chuquesaca de la Plata,
which yielded him an annual revenue greater than that
of the Archbishop of Toledo, the best endowed see in
Europe. Dec. 7. lib. vi. c. 3.

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 409

NOTE XXV. p. 253.

ALL the Spanish writers describe his march, and
the distresses of both parties, very minutely. Zarate
observes, that hardly any parallel to it occurs in history,
either with respect -to the length of the retreat, or
the ardour of the pursuit. Pizarro, according to his
computation, followed the viceroy upwards of three
thousand miles. Lib. v. c.16. 26.

NOTE XXVI. p. 253.

IT amounted, according to Fernandez, the best in-
formed historian of that period, to one million four
hundred thousand pesos. Lib. ii. c. 79.

NOTE XXVII. p. 255.

CARVAJAL, from the beginning, had been an advo-
cate for an accqmmodatioii with Gasca. Finding
Pizarro incapable of holding that bold course which he
originally suggested, he recommended to him a timely
submission to his sovereign as the safest measure.
When the president's offers were first communicated
to Carvajal, " By our Lady (says he, in that strain of
buffoonery which was familiar to him) the priest issues
gracious bulls. He gives them both good and cheap ;
let us not only accept them, but wear them as reliques
about our necks." Fernandez, lib. ii. c. 63.

410 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

NOTE XXVIII. p. 262.

DURING the rebellion of Gonzalo Pizarro, seven
hundred men were killed in battle, and three hundred
and eighty were hanged or beheaded. Herrera, dec. 8.
lib. iv. c. 4. Above three hundred of these were cut
off by Carvajal. Fernandez, lib. ii. c. 91. Zarate
makes the number of those put to a violent death five
hundred. Lib. vii. c. 1.

NOTE XXIX. p. 271.

IN my inquiries concerning the manners and policy
of the Mexicans, I have received much information
from a large manuscript of Don Alonso de Corita,
one 'of the judges in the Court of Audience of Mexico.
In the year 1553, Philip II., in order to discover the
mode of levying tribute from his Indian subjects,
that would be most beneficial to the crown, and
least oppressive to them, addressed a mandate to all
the Courts of Audience in America, enjoining them
to answer certain queries which he proposed to them,
concerning the ancient form of government established
among the various nations of Indians, and the mode
in which they had been accustomed to pay taxes to
their kings or chiefs. In obedience to this mandate
Corita, who had resided nineteen years in America,
fourteen of which he passed in New Spain, composed
the work of which I have a copy. He acquaints
his sovereign, that he had made it an object, during

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 411

his residence in America, and in all its provinces
which he had visited, to inquire diligently into the
manners and customs of the natives; that he had
conversed for this purpose with many aged and
intelligent Indians, and consulted several of the
Spanish ecclesiastics, who understood the Indian lan-
guages most perfectly, particularly some of those
who landed in New Spain soon after the conquest.
Corita appears to be a man of some learning, and to
have carried on his inquiries with the diligence and
accuracy to which he pretends. Greater credit is due
to his testimony from one circumstance. His work
was not composed with a view to publication, or in
support of any particular theory, but contains simple
though full answers to queries proposed to him offi-
cially. Though Herrera does not mention him
among the authors whom he had followed as guides
in his history, I should suppose, from several facts
of which he takes notice, as well as from several ex-
pressions which he uses, that this memorial of Corita
was not unknown to him.

NOTE XXX. p. 285.

THE early Spanish writers were so hasty and inac-
curate in estimating the numbers of people in the
provinces and towns of America, that it is impossible
to ascertain that of Mexico itself with any degree of
precision. Cortes describes the extent and populous-
ness of Mexico in general terms, which imply that
it was not inferior to the greatest cities in Europe.
Gomara is more explicit, and affirms, that there were
60,000 houses or families in Mexico. G$pn. c. 78.

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

Herrera adopts his opinion, Dec. 2. lib. vii. c. 13. ; and
the generality of writers follow them implicity without
inquiry or scruple. According to this account, the
inhabitants of Mexico must have been about 300,000.
Torquemada, with his usual propensity to the marvel-
lous, asserts, that there were a hundred and twenty
thousand houses or families in Mexico, and conse-
quently about six hundred thousand inhabitants.
Lib. iii. c. 23. But in a very judicious account of
the Mexican empire, by one of Cortes's officers, the
population is fixed at 60,000 people. Ramusio, iii.
309. A. Even by this account, which probably is
much nearer the truth than any of the foregoing,
Mexico was a great city.

NOTE XXXI. p. 290.

IT is to P. Torribio de Benavente, that I am in-
debted for this curious observation. Palafox, Bishop
of Ciudad de la Puebla Los Angeles, confirms and
illustrates it more fully. The Mexican (says he) is
the only language in which a termination indicating
respect, silavas revcrentiales y de cortesia^ may be
affixed to every word. By adding the final syllable
zin or azin to any word, it becomes a proper expres-
sion of veneration in the mouth of an inferior. If, in
speaking to an equal, the word Father is to be used, it
is Tatl, but an inferior says Tatzin. One priest speak-
ing to another, calls him Teopixque; a person of in-
ferior rank calls him Teopixcatzin. The name of the
Emperor who reigned when Cortes invaded Mexico,
was Montezuma, but his vassals, from reverence, pro-
nounced it Montezumazin. Torribio, MS. Palaf. Vir-

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 413

tudes del Indio, p. 65. The Mexicans bad not only
reverential nouns, but reverential verbs. The manner
in which these are formed from the verbs in common
use, is explained by D. Jos. Aug. Aldama y Guevara
in his Mexican Grammar, N° 188.

NOTE XXXII. p. 29G.

FROM comparing several passages in Corita and
Herrera, we may collect, with some degree of accu-
racy, the various modes in which the Mexicans con-
tributed towards the support of government. Some
persons of the first order seem to have been exempted
from the payment of any tribute, and as their only
duty to the public, were bound to personal service in
war, and to follow the banner of their sovereign with
their vassals. 2. The immediate vassals of the crown
were bound not only to personal military service, but
paid a certain proportion of the produce of their lands
in kind. 3. Those who held offices of honour or
trust, paid a certain share of what they received in
consequence of holding these. 4. Each Capullce^ or
association, cultivated some part of the common field
allotted to it, for the behoof of the crown, and depo-
sited the produce in the royal granaries. 5. Some
part of whatever was brought to the public markets,
whether fruits of the earth, or the various productions
of their artists and manufacturers, was demanded for
the public use, and the merchants who paid this were
exempted from every other tax. 6. The Mayeques^
or adscripti glcbte, were bound to cultivate certain
districts in every province, which may be considered

414 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

as crown lands, and brought the increase into public
storehouses. Thus the sovereign received some part
of whatever was useful or valuable in the country?
whether it was the natural production of the soil,
or acquired by the industry of the people. What
each contributed towards the support of government,
seems to have been inconsiderable. Corita, in an-
swer to one of the queries put to the Audience of
Mexico by Philip II., endeavours to estimate in
money the value of what each citizen might be sup-
posed to pay, and does not reckon it at more than
three or four reals, about eighteen pence or two shil-
lings a-head.

NOTE XXXIII. p. 297.

CORTES, who seems to have been as much astonished
with this, as with any instance of Mexican ingenuity,
gives a particular description of it. Along one of
the causeways, says he, by which they enter the city,
are conducted two conduits, composed of clay tem-
pered with mortar, about two paces in breadth, and
raised about six feet. In one of them is conveyed a
stream of excellent water, as large as the body of a
man, into the centre of the city, and it supplies all
the inhabitants plentifully. The other is empty, that
when it is necessary to clean, or repair the former,
the stream of water may be turned into it. As this
conduit passes along two of the bridges, where there
are breaches in the causeway, through which the salt-
water of the lake flows, it is conveyed over them in

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

pipes as large as the body of an ox, then carried from
the conduit to the remote quarters of the city in
canoes, and sold to the inhabitants. Relat. ap. Ramus.
241. A.

NOTE XXXIV. p. 299.

IN the armoury of the royal palace of Madrid are
shown suits of armour, which are called Montezuma's.
They are composed of thin lacquered copper-plates.
In the opinion of very intelligent judges, they are
evidently eastern. The forms of the silver ornaments
upon them, representing dragons, &c. may be con-
sidered as a confirmation of this. They are infinitely
superior, in point of workmanship, to any effort of
American art. The Spaniards probably received them
from the Philippine islands. The only unquestionable
specimen of Mexican art, that I know of in Great
Britain, is a cup of very fine gold, which is said
to have belonged to Montezuma. It weighs 5 oz.
12 dwt. Three drawings of it were exhibited to the
Society of Antiquaries, June 10. 1765. A man's
head is represented on this cup. On one side the
full face, on the other the profile, on the third the
back parts of the head. The relievo is said to have
been produced by punching the inside of the cup,
so as to make the representation of a face on the out-
side. The features are gross, but represented with
some degree of art, and certainly too rude for Spanish
workmanship. This cup was purchased by Edward
Earl of Orford, while he lay in the harbour of Cadiz
with the fleet under his command, and is now in the

416 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

possession of his grandson, Lord Archer. I am in-
debted for this information to my respectable and
ingenious friend Mr.' Barrington. In the sixth volume
of the Archaeologia, p. 107., is published an account
of some masks of Terra Cotta, brought from a bury-
ing-ground on the American continent, about seventy
miles from the British settlement on the Mosquito
shore. They are said to be likenesses of chiefs, or
other eminent persons. From the descriptions and
engravings of them, we have an additional proof of
the imperfect state of arts among the Americans.

NOTE XXXV. p. 307.

THE learned reader will perceive how much I have
been indebted, in this part of my work, to the guid-
ance of the Bishop of Gloucester, who has traced the
successive steps by which the human mind advanced
in this line of its progress, with much erudition, and
greater ingenuity. He is the first, as far as I know,
who formed a rational and consistent theory concerning
the various modes of writing practised by nations, ac-
cording to the various degrees of their improvement.
Div. Ligation of Moses, iii. 69, &c. Some import-
ant observations have been added by M. le President
de Brosses, the learned and intelligent author of the
Traite de la Formation Mechanique des Langues,
torn. i. 295, &c.

As the Mexican paintings "are the most curious
monuments extant of the earliest mode of writing,

16

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 417

it will not be improper to give some account of the
means by which they were preserved from the general
wreck of every work of art in America, and commu-
nicated to the public. For the most early and com-
plete collection of these published by Purchas, we are
indebted to the attention of that curious inquirer,
Hakluyt. Don Antonio Mendoza, viceroy of New
Spain, having deemed those paintings a proper pre-
sent for Charles V., the ship in which they were sent
to Spain was taken by a French cruiser, and they
came into the possession of Thevet, the King's geo-
grapher, who, having travelled himself into the New
World, and described one of its provinces, was a
curious observer of whatever tended to illustrate
the manners of the Americans. On his death,
they were purchased by Hakluyt, at that time
chaplain of the English ambassador to the French
court; and, being left by him to Purchas, were
published at the desire of the learned antiquary Sir
Henry Spelman. Purchas, iii. 1065. They were
translated from English into French by Melchizedeck
Thevenot, and published in his collection of voyages,
A.D. 1683.

THE second specimen of Mexican picture-writing
was published by Dr. Francis Gemelli Carreri, in two
copper-plates. The first is a map, or representation
of the progress of the ancient Mexicans on their first
arrival in the country, and of the various stations in
which they settled, before they founded the capital
of their empire in the lake of Mexico. The second
is a Chronological Wheel, or Circle, representing

VOL. III. E E

418 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

the manner in which they computed and marked
their cycle of fifty- two years. He received both from
Don Carlos de Siguenza y Congorra, a diligent collec-
tor of ancient Mexican documents. But as it seems
now to be a received opinion (founded, as far as I
know, on no good evidence) that Carreri was never
out of Italy, and that his famous Giro del Mundo is
an account of a fictitious voyage, I have not men-
tioned these paintings in the text. They have, how-
ever, manifestly the appearance of being Mexican
productions, and are allowed to be so by Boturini, who
was well qualified to determine whether they were
genuine or supposititious. M. Clavigero likewise ad-
mits them to be genuine paintings of the ancient
Mexicans. To me they always appeared to be so,
though, from my desire to rest no part of my narrative
upon questionable authority, I did not refer to them.
The style of painting in the former is considerably more
perfect than any other specimen of Mexican design ;
but as the original is said to have been much defaced
by time, I suspect that it ;has been improved by some
touches from the hand of an European artist. Carreri,
Churchill, iv. p. 487- The Chronological Wheel is
a just delineation of the Mexican mode of computing
time, as described by Acosta, lib. vi. c. 2. It seems
to resemble one which that learned Jesuit had seen ;
and if it be admitted as a genuine monument, it proves
that the Mexicans had artificial, or arbitrary charac-
ters, which represented several things besides num-
bers. Each month is there represented by a symbol
expressive of some work or rite peculiar to it.

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

THD third specimen of Mexican painting was
Covered by another Italian. In 1736, Lorenzo Botu-
rini Benaduci set out for New Spain, aud was led by
several incidents to study the language of the Mexi-
cans, and to collect the remains of their historical mo*
numents. He persisted nine years in his researches,
with the enthusiasm of a projector, and the patience
of an antiquary. In 1 746, he published at Madrid,
Idea de una Nueva Historia General de la America
Septentrional^ containing an account of the result of
his inquiries ; and he added to it a catalogue of his
American Historical Museum, arranged under thirty-
six different heads. His idea of a New History ap-
pears to me the work of a whimsical credulous man.
But his catalogue of Mexican maps, paintings, tri-
bute-rolls, calendars, &c. is much larger than one
could have expected. Unfortunately a ship, in which
he had sent a considerable part of them to Europe, was
taken by an English privateer during the war between
Great Britain and Spain, which commenced in the
year 1739; and it is probable that they perished by
falling into the hands of ignorant captors. Boturini
himself incurred the displeasure of the Spanish court,
and died in an hospital at Madrid. The history, of
which the Idea, &c. was only a prospectus, was never
published. The remainder of his Museum seems to
have been dispersed. Some part of it came into the
possession of the present Archbishop of Toledo, when
he was primate of New Spain ; and he published from
it that curious tribute-roll which I have mentioned.

E E 2

420 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

THE only other collection of Mexican paintings,
as far as I can learn,, is in the Imperial Library at
Vienna. By order of their Imperial Majesties, I have
obtained such a specimen of these as I desired, in eight
paintings made with so much fidelity, that I am in-
formed the copies could hardly be distinguished from
the originals. According to a note in this Codex Mexi-
canus, it appears to have been a present from Emma-
nuel King of Portugal to Pope Clement VII., who
died A. D. 1533. After passing through the hands
of several illustrious proprietors, it fell into those of
the Cardinal of Saxe-Eisenach, who presented it to the
Emperor Leopold. These paintings are manifestly
Mexican, but they are in a style very different fro.m
any of the former. An engraving has been made of
one of them, in order to gratify such of my readers
as may deem this an object worthy of their attention.
Were it an object of sufficient importance, it might
perhaps be possible, by recourse to the plates of
Purchas, and the Archbishop of Toledp, as a key, to
form plausible conjectures concerning the meaning
of this picture. Many of the figures are evidently
similar. A. A. are targets and darts, almost in the
same form with those published by Purchas, p. 1070,
1071? &c. B. B. are figures of temples, nearly re-
sembling those in Purchas, p. 1109. and 1113., and
in Lorenzana, Plate II. C. is a bale of mantles, or
cotton cloths, the figure of which occurs in almost
every plate of Purchas and Lorenzana. E. E. E.
seems to be Mexican captains in their war dress, the
fantastic ornaments of which resemble the figures in
Purchas, p. 1110, 1111. 2113. I should suppose

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 421

this picture to be a tribute-roll, as their mode of noting
numbers occurs frequently. D.D.D., &c. According
to Boturini, the mode of computation by the number
of knots was known to the Mexicans as well as to
the Peruvians, p. 85., and the manner in which the
number of units is represented in the Mexican paint-
ings in my possession seems to confirm this opinion.
They plainly resemble a string of knots on a cord or
slender rope.

SINCE I published the former edition, Mr.Waddi-
love, who is still pleased to continue his friendly
attention to procure me information, has discovered,
in the Library of the Escurial, a volume in folio,
consisting of forty sheets of a kind of pasteboard,
each the size of a common sheet of writing paper,
with great variety of uncouth and whimsical figures
of Mexican painting, in very fresh colours, and with
an explanation in Spanish to most of them. The
first twenty- two sheets are the signs of the months,
days, &c. About the middle of each sheet are two
or more large figures for the month, surrounded by
the signs of the days. The last eighteen sheets are
not so filled with figures. They seem to be signs of
Deities, and images of various objects. According
to this Calendar in the Escurial, the Mexican year
contained 286 days, divided into 22 months of 13
days. Each day is represented by a different sign,
taken from some natural object, a serpent, a dog, a
lizard, a reed, a house, &c. The signs of days in
the Calendar of the Escurial are precisely the same
with those mentioned by Boturini, Idea, &c. p. 45.

• E E 3

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

But, if we may give credit to that author, the
Mexican year contained 360 days, divided into 18
months of 20 days. The order of days in every
month was computed, according to him, first by
what he calls a tridecennary progression of days from
one to thirteen, in the same manner as in the Calendar
of the Escurial, and then by a septenary progression
of days from one to seven, making in all twenty. In
this Calendar, not only the signs which distinguish
each day, but the qualities supposed to be peculiar to
each month, are marked. There are certain weak-
nesses which seem to accompany the human mind
through every stage of its progress in observation and
science. Slender as was the knowledge of the Mexi-
cans in astronomy, it appears to have been already
connected with judicial astrology. The fortune and
character of persons born in each month are supposed
to be decided by some superior influence predominant
at the time of nativity* Hence it is foretold in the
Calendar, that all who are born in one month will be
rich, in another warlike, in a third luxurious, &c.
The pasteboard, or whatever substance it may be on
which the Calendar in the Escurial is painted, seems,
"by Mr. Waddilove's description of it, to resemble
nearly that in the Imperial Library at Vienna. In
several particulars, the figures bear some likeness, to
those in the plate which I have published. The
figures marked D., which induced me to conjecture
that this painting might be a tribute-roll similar to
these published by Purchas and the Archbishop of
Toledo, Mr. Waddilove supposes to be signs of days :
and I have such confidence in the accuracy of his

'5

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

observations, as to conclude his opinion to be well-
founded. It appears, from the characters in which
the explanations of the figures are written, that this
curious monument of Mexican art has been obtained,
soon after the conquest of the empire. It is singtilar
that it should never have been mentioned by any
Spanish author.

NOTE XXXVI. p. 309,

THE first was called the Prince of the Deathful
Lance; the second the Divider of Men; the third
the Shedder of Blood ; the fourth the Lord of the
Dark-house. Acosta, lib. vi. c. 25.

NOTE XXXVII. p. 3 17.

THE temple of Cholula, which was deemed more
holy than any in New Spain, was likewise the most
considerable. But it was nothing more than a mount
of solid earth. According to Torquemada, it was
above a quarter of a league in circuit at the base, and
rose to the height of forty fathom. Mon. Ind.
Lib. iii. c. 19. Even M. Clavigero acknowledges
that all the Mexican temples were solid structures,
or earthen mounts, and of consequence cannot be
considered as any evidence of their having made
any considerable progress in the art of building.
Clavig. II. 207.

E E 4

424 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

FROM inspecting various figures of temples in the
paintings engraved by Purchas, there seems to be
some reason for suspecting, that all their temples
were constructed in the same manner. See Vol. iii.
p. 1109, 1110. 1113.

NOTE XXXVIII. p. 3 19.

NOT only in Tlascala, and Tepeaca, but even in
Mexico itself, the houses of the people were mere
huts built with turf, or mud, or the branches of trees.
They were extremely low, and slight, and without
any furniture but a few earthen vessels. Like the
rudest Indians, several families resided under the
same roof, without having any separate apartments.
Herrera, Dec. 2. lib. vii. c. 13. lib.x. c. 22. Dec. 3.
lib. iv. c. 1 7« Torquem. lib. iii. c. 23.

NOTE XXXIX. p. 3 19.

I AM informed by a person who resided long in
New Spain, and visited almost every province of it,
that there is not, in all the extent of that vast empire,
any monument, or vestige of any building more
ancient than the conquest, nor of any bridge or
highway, except some remains of the causeway from
Guadaloupe to that gate of Mexico by which
Cortes entered the city. MS. penes me. The author
of another account in manuscript observes, " That
at this day there does not remain even the smalkst

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 4£5

vestige of the existence of any ancient Indian building
public or private, either in Mexico or in any province
of New Spain. I have travelled, says he, through all
the countries adjacent to them, viz. New Galicia,
New Biscay, New Mexico, Sonora, Cinaloa, the
New Kingdom of Leon, and New Santandero, with-
out having observed any monument worth notice,
except some ruins near an ancient village in the valley
de Casas Grandes, in lat. N. 3°. 46'. long. 258°. 24'.
from the island of TeneriiFe, or 460 leagues N. N. W.
from Mexico." He describes these ruins minutely,
and they appear to be the remains of a paltry building
of turf and stone, plastered over with white earth
or lime. A missionary informed that gentleman,
that he had discovered the ruins of another edifice
similar to the former, about an hundred leagues
towards N. W. on the banks of the river St. Pedro.
MS. penes me.

THESE testimonies derive great credit from one
circumstance, that they were not given in support
of any particular system or theory, but as simple
answers to queries which I had proposed. It is
probable, however, that when these gentlemen assert,
that no ruins or monuments of any ancient work
whatever are now to be discovered in the Mexican
empire, they meant that there were no such ruins
or monuments as conveyed any idea of grandeur
or magnificence in the works of its ancient inha-
bitants. For it appears from the testimony of
several Spanish authors, that in Otumba, Tlascala,
Cholula, &c. some vestiges of ancient buildings are

426 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

still visible. Villa Segnor Theatre Amer. p. 143-
308. 353. D. Fran. Ant. Lorenzana, formerly
Archbishop of Mexico, and now of Toledo, in his
introduction to that edition of the Cartas de Relacion
of Cortes, which he published at Mexico, mentions
some ruins which are still visible in several of the
towns through which Cortes passed in his way to the
capital, p. 4, &c. But neither of these authors give
any description of them, and they seem to be so very
inconsiderable, as to shew only that some buildings
had once been there. The large mount of earth at
Cholula, which the Spaniards dignified with the name
of temple, still remains, but without any steps by
which to ascend, or any facing of stone. It appears
now like a natural mount, covered with grass and
shrubs, and possibly it was never any thing more.
Torquem. lib. iii. c. 19. I have received a minute
description of the remains of a temple near Cuernavaca,
on the road from Mexico to Acapulco. It is com-
posed of large stones, fitted to each other as nicely as
those in the buildings of the Peruvians, which are
hereafter mentioned. At the foundation it forms a
square of twenty- five yards; but as it rises in height,
it diminishes in extent, not gradually, but by being
contracted suddenly at regular distances, so that it
must have resembled the figure B. in the plate. It
terminated, it is said, in a spire.

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 427

NOTE XL. p. 325.

THE exaggeration of the Spanish historians, with
respect to the number of human victims sacrificed in
Mexico, appears to be very great. According to
Gomara, there was no year in which twenty thou-
sand human victims were not offered to the Mexican
Divinities, and in some years they amounted to fifty
thousand. Cron. c. 229. The skulls of those unhappy
persons were ranged in order in a building erected
for that purpose, and two of Cortes's officers who
had counted them, informed Gomara, that their
number was an hundred and thirty^six thousand.
Ibid. c. 82. Herrera's account is still more incredible,
that the number of victims was so great, that five
thousand have been sacrificed in one day, nay, on
some occasions, no less than twenty thousand. Dec. iii.
lib. ii. c. 16. Torquemada goes beyond both in
extravagance, for he asserts, that twenty thousand
children, exclusive of other victims, were slaughtered
annually. Mon. Ind. lib. vii. c. 21. The most re-
spectable authority in favour of such high numbers
is that of Zumurraga, the first Bishop of Mexico,
who, in a letter to the chapter-general of his order,
A.D. 1631, asserts that the Mexicans sacrificed
annually twenty thousand victims. Davila. Teatro
Eccles. 126. In opposition to all these accounts,
B. de las Casas observes, that if there had been such
an annual waste of the human species, the country
could never have arrived at that degree of populous-
ness for which it was remarkable when the Spaniards

428 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

first landed there. This reasoning is just. If the
number of victims in,all the provinces of New Spain
had been so great, not only must population have
been prevented from increasing, but the human race
must have been exterminated in a short time. For
besides the waste of the species by such numerous
sacrifices, it is observable, that wherever the fate of
captives taken in war is either certain death or
perpetual slavery, as men can gain nothing by sub-
mitting speedily to an enemy, they always resist to
the uttermost, and war becomes bloody and de-
structive to the last degree. Las Casas positively
asserts, that the Mexicans never sacrificed more than
fifty or a hundred persons in a year. See his dispute
with Sepulveda, subjoined to his Brevissima Relacion,
p. 105. Cortes does not specify what number of
victims was sacrificed annually, but B. Diaz del
Castillo relates, that an inquiry having been made,
with respect to this, by the Franciscan monks, who
were sent into New Spain immediately after the
conquest, it was found that about two thousand
five hundred were sacrificed every year in Mexico.

c. 207.

NOTE XLL p. 327.

IT is hardly necessary to observe, that the Peruvian
Chronology is not only obscure, but repugnant to
conclusions deduced from the most accurate and ex-
tensive observations, concerning the time that elapses
during each reign, in any given succession of Princes.
The medium has been found not to exceed twenty
years. According to Acosta and Garcilasso de la

10

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 409

Vega, Huana Capac, who died about the year 1527,
was the twelfth Inca. According to this rule of
computing, the duration of the Peruvian monarchy
ought not to have been reckoned above two hundred
and forty years ; but they affirm that it had subsisted
four hundred years. Acosta, lib. vi. c. 19. Vega,
lib. i. c. 9. By this account each reign is extended
at a medium to thirty-three years, instead of twenty,
the number ascertained by Sir Isaac Newton's observ-
ations ; but so imperfect were the Peruvian traditions,
that though the total is boldly marked, the number of
years in each reign is unknown.

NOTE XLII. p. 335.

MANY of the early Spanish writers assert, that the
Peruvians offered human sacrifices. Xerez, p. 190.
Zarate, lib. i. c. 11. Acosta, lib. v. c. 19. But
Garcilasso de la Vega contends, that though this
barbarous practice prevailed among their uncivilized
ancestors, it was totally abolished by the Incas, and
that no human victim was ever offered in any temple
of the Sun. This assertion, and the plausible reasons
with which he confirms it, are sufficient to refute the
Spanish writers, whose accounts seem to be founded
entirely upon report, not upon what they themselves
had observed. Vega, lib. ii. c. 4. In one of their
festivals, the Peruvians offered cakes of bread
moistened with blood drawn from the arms, the eye-
brows, and noses of their children. Id, lib. vii. c. 6.
This rite may have been derived from their ancient
practice, in their uncivilised state, of sacrificing
human victims.

430 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

NOTE XLIII. p. 342.

THE Spaniards have adopted both those customs of
the ancient Peruvians. They have preserved some of
the aqueducts or canals, made in the days of the
Incas, and have made new ones, by which they water
every field that they cultivate. Ulloa Voyage, torn. i.
422. 477» They likewise continue to use guano, or
the dung of sea-fowls, as manure. Ulloa gives a de-
scription of the almost incredible quantity of it in the
small islands near the coast. Ibid. 48 1 .

NOTE XLIV. p. 345.

THE temple of Cayambo, the palace of the Inca at
Callo in the plain of Lacatunga, and that of Atun-
Cannar, are described by Ulloa, torn. i. 286, &c,
who inspected them with great care. M. de Conda-
mine published a curious memoir concerning the
ruins of Atun-Cannar. Mem. de 1'Academie de
Berlin, A. D. 1746, p. 435. Acosta describes the
ruins of Cuzco, which he had examined. Lib. vi.
c. 14. Garcilasso, in his usual style, gives pompous
and confused descriptions of several temples, and
other public edifices. Lib. iii. c. 1. c. 21. lib. vi.
c. 4. Don Zapata, in a large treatise con-
cerning Peru, which has not hitherto been published,
communicates some information with respect to
several monuments of the ancient Peruvians, which

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 431

have not been mentioned by other authors. MS.
penes me, Articulo xx. Ulloa describes some of the
ancient Peruvian fortifications, which were likewise
works of great extent and solidity. Tom. i. 391.
Three circumstances struck all those observers : the
vast size of the stones which the Peruvians employed
in some of their buildings. Acosta measured one,
which was thirty feet long, eighteen broad, and six
in thickness ; and yet, he adds, that in the fortress
at Cuzco there were stones considerably larger. It
is difficult to conceive how the Peruvians could
move these, and raise them to the height even of
twelve feet. The second circumstance is, the imper-
fection of the Peruvian art, when applied to working
in timber. By the patience and perseverance natural
to Americans, stones may be formed into any shape,
merely by rubbing one against another, or by the use
of hatchets or other instruments made of stone;,
but with such rude tools, little progress can be made
in carpentry. The Peruvians could not mortise
two beams together, or give any degree of union or
stability to any work composed of timber. As they
could not form a centre, they were totally unac-
quainted with the use of arches in building; nor
can the Spanish authors conceive how they were able
to frame a roof for those ample structures which they
raised.

THE third circumstance is a striking proof, which
all the monuments of the Peruvians furnish, of their
want of ingenuity and invention, accompanied with
patience no less astonishing. None of the stones

432 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

employed in those works were formed into any parti-
cular or uniform shape, which could render them fit
for being compacted together in building. The
Indians took them as they fell from the mountains,
or were raised out of the quarries. Some were
square, some triangular, some convex, some concave*
Their art and industry were employed in joining them
together, by forming such hollows in the one, as
perfectly correspond to the projections or risings in
the other. This tedious operation, which might have
been so easily abridged, by adapting the surface of
the stones to each other, either by rubbing, or by
their hatchets of copper, would be deemed incredible,
if it were not put beyond doubt by inspecting the
remains of those buildings. It gives them a very
singular appearance to an European eye. There is
no regular layer or stratum of building, and no one
stone resembles another in dimensions or form. At
the same time, by the persevering but ill-directed
industry of the Indians, they are all joined with that
minute nicety which I have mentioned. Ulloa made
this observation concerning the form of the stones in
the fortress of Atun-Cannar. Voy. i. p. 387. Pineto
gives a similar description of the fortress of Cuzco,
the most perfect of all the Peruvian works. Zapata
MS. penes me. According to M. de Condamine.
there were regular strata of building in some parts of
Atun-Cannar, which he remarks as singular, and as a
proof of some progress in improvement.

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 433

NOTE XLV. p. 349.

THE appearance of those bridges, which bend with
their own weight, wave with the wind, and are consi-
derably agitated by the motion of every person who
passes along them, is very frightful at first. But
the Spaniards have found them to be the easiest mode
of passing the torrents in Peru, over which it would
be difficult to throw more solid structures either of
stone or timber. They form those hanging bridges so
strong and broad, that loaded mules pass along them.
All the trade of Cuzco is carried on by means of such
a bridge over the river Apurimac. Ulloa, torn. i.
358. A more simple contrivance was employed in
passing smaller streams : A basket, in which the tra-
veller was placed, being suspended from a strong rope
stretched across the stream, it was pushed or drawn
from one side to the other. Ibid,

NOTE XLVI. p. 362.

MY information with respect to those events is
taken from Noticia breve de la expedicion militar de
Sinora y Cinaloa, su exito feliz, y vantojoso estado,
en que por consecuentia de ello, se han puesto ambas
provincias, published at Mexico, June 17th, 177J,
in order to satisfy the curiosity of the merchants,
who had furnished the viceroy with money for defray-
ing the expense of the armament. The copies of

VOL. III. F F

434 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

this Noticia are very rare in Madrid; but I have
obtained one, which has enabled me to commu-
nicate these curio'us facts to the public. Accord-
ing to this account there was found in the mine
Yecorato in Cinaloa a grain of gold of twenty-two
carats, which weighed sixteen marks four ounces
four ochavas ; this was sent to Spain as a present fit
for the King, and is now deposited in the royal cabinet
at Madrid.

NOTE XLVII. p. 362.

THE uncertainty of geographers with respect to
this point is remarkable, for Cortes seems to have
surveyed its coasts with great accuracy. The Arch-
bishop of Toledo has published, from the original,
in the possession of the Marquis del Valle, the
descendant of Cortes, a map drawn in 1541, by
the pilot Domingo Castillo, in which California
is laid down as a peninsula, stretching out nearly
in the same direction which is now given to it in the
best maps ; and the point where Rio Colorado enters
the gulf is marked with precision. Hist, de Nueva
Espagna, 327.

NOTE XLVIII. p. 366.

I AM indebted for this fact to M. L'Abbe RaynaJ,
torn. iii. 103* ; and upon consulting an intelligent per-
son, long settled on the Mosquito shore, and who

13

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

has been engaged in the logwood-trade, I find that
ingenious author has been well informed. The
logwood cut near the town of St. Francis of Cam-
peachy is of much better quality than that on the
other side of Yucatan ; and the English trade in the
Bay of Honduras is almost at an end.

435

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