Pizarro, his adventures and conquests

Front matter

PIZARRO PIZARRO CALLING Ul'ON HIS COMRADES TO DECIDE. — p. PIZARRO HIS ADVENTURES AND CONQUESTS EY GEORGE M. TOWLE A*_ author of "vasco da gama" LONDON GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS BROADWAY, LUDGATE HILL NEW YORK: 4t6, BROOME STREET l88l ROUTLEDGE'S BIOGRAPHICAL LIBRA Ks. Life of Wellington. By Charles Macfarlane. Life of Napoleon. By Charles Macfarlane. Allen's Life of Nelson. Life of Marlborough. By Charles Macfarlane. The Story of Ceryantes. By Amelia B. Edwards. Julius Cæsar. By Archdeacon Williams. Osler's Life of Exmouth. Allen's Life of Dundonald. Washington Irving's Life of Goldsmith. Richelieu. By William Robson. Washington Irving's Life of Mahomet. Vasco da Gama. By George M. Towle. Pizarro. By George M. Towle.

Preface

. volume describes the travels and con- MsBjtfl quests of one of the most resolute and ■aOj adventurous captains that any age has produced. Pizarro was heroic in the indomitable energy with which he pursued his end; in the patience with which he bore hardships as terrible as ever man encountered ; in the courage with which he assailed an empire containing millions of people, and having a vast and disciplined army, with a mere handful of resolute souls like himself; and in the vigour and genius with which, Peru once subdued, he founded and established the Spanish rule over the conquered nation. That he invaded and conquered Peru from motives of ambition, and greed of gold, is but too true. It is probable that higher motives than these seldom entered his mind. Like all, or nearly all, the great captains of his time, he did not hesitate to carry wide-spread havoc among a peaceful race, to lay desolate a thriving land, to usurp a power to which he had not the shadow of a right, and to use mean? in achieving his purpose which were often barbarouslj vi Preface. cruel.

The only palliation of his career of conflict and rapine is, that his rude, warlike age justified his objects and his actions, and that it was then the custom of nations to make conquests, and to assail unoffending nations, for the sake of dominion and riches. By Pizarro's conquest, Spain acquired a splendid empire, and gained a footing in South America by means of which she gradually extended her power over large portions of that continent ; and thus Pizarro may at least be credited with having laid there the foundations of a higher and more per manent civilization than that which he replaced. The exciting story of Pizarro's adventures has been told more than once before ; but not in recent years, at least for young people. It is a story well calcu lated at once to amuse and to instruct ; nor is it without serious lessons for those boys and girls who choose to glean them.

CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE I. The Runaways 9 II. Pizarro a Soldier . . . .21 III. Pizarro in the New World . . 28 IV. The Golden Land . . . .41 V. Pizarro's Departure • • • 55 VI. Pizarro's Second Venture . . 67 VII. On the Borders of Peru . . .81 VIII. Pizarro in Spain .... 89 IX. The Third Expedition ... 97 X. Pizarro Invades Peru . . .110 XI. The Inca's Court and Camp . . 124 XII. Pizarro at Caxamalca . . -135 XIII. Atahualpa a Prisoner . . . 14? Contents. chap. page XIV. The Inca's Doom . . . .162 XV. Pizarro Captures Cuzco . . . 179 XVI. The City of the Kings . . . 191 XVII. The Siege of Cuzco .... 203 XVIII. Almagro's Revolt .... 209 XIX. Thrilling Adventures of Gonzalo 225 XX. The Death of Pizarro . . . THE RUNAWAYS— p Q PIZARRO: HIS ADVENTURES AND CONQUESTS.

Chapter I. The Runaways

ON the early morning of a warm autumn day, not quite four hundred years ago, three lads, varying in age from thirteen to fifteen, were hurriedly climbing a rough and precipitous mountain-road in Central Spain. Every now and then, as they mounted higher, they would look anxiously back to see if they were followed ; and, finding they were not, they continued their ascent with brisker steps and more cheerful countenances. Once in a while they came to a spot where an opening in the dense and luxuriant forest exposed to their view the broad plain, still veiled by a soft morning haze, which they had left a few hoars before. Here they would stop, and strain their eyes in the direction they had come, as if to discern any pursuing figures who might appear in the road far below, which, so high were they above it, seemed like a narrow yellow thread winding amid the expanse of green.

B Pizarro. 10 They were stalwart, dark-featured youths, with stout sinews and sturdy limbs, and serious, resolute faces ; wearing the same rude apparel, which consisted of a coarse shirt, a loose jacket, short wide breeches fastened at the knees, rude sandals on their feet, and large, coarsely-woven woollen caps on their heads. Each carried a bundle on a stick, which he swung across his shoulder. As they pressed upward, they spoke but little : they not only wished to save their breath for the long tramp before them, but their thoughts were so deeply absorbed in their serious situation, that they were not disposed to be talkative. At last they reached a steep and rugged cliff, the summit of which was almost bare, and from which, over the tops of the thick forest, they could clearly see the plain stretched out for miles till it faded near the misty horizon.

They were tired and hungry ; and, despite the danger of pursuit, they resolved to rest a while on this convenient crag. Throwing down their bundles, and lying upon the patches of moss which here and there covered the rock, they proceeded to discuss such a breakfast as their resources permitted. They took from their bundles some coarse bread andraw onions, a few bunches of grapes which they had picked by the road, and some chestnuts ; and these homely viands were quickly disposed of. Then one of them produced a small can, and running to a mountain brook which leaped madly over a little chasm near by, filled it with deliriously cold water, and brought it to his companions, who drank of it eagerly. Refreshed by their simple morning meal, the three lads, lying at full length on the patches of moss, turned their faces instinctively towards the plain, and pointed out to each other the spots familiar to them all.

" Look ! " said one, a trifle taller than the others, whom they called Francisco : " you can plainly see the old citadel there on the right ; and there is the old wall, and the town on the side of the hill ; and you can just catch a glimpse of the big castle of the duke, or at least its great square western lower; and that little open place is our broad plaza. What a distance we must be from Truxillo, every thing looks so small ! I wonder how many miles we have come." <: Oh ! " exclaimed the youngest of the three, " and can't you see, Francisco, just this side of the town, the round hill where our homes are ? they must be those huts midway up the slope : and still farther this way are the fields where we used to tend the swine." " We have done with that for ever, thank Heaven ! " cried Francisco heartily.

" No more tending of swine for us. Gonzalo and Juan must do my share henceforth, as well as their own. Bah ! what a dog's life ! But we are leaving it, and are going out into the great world to seek our fortunes. We will be soldiers, and fight our way to fame and power. We will go across the seas to the beautiful lands which the brave Columbus found, and where we will surely become great and rich." The third, who had not yet spoken, and whose name was Pedro, sat and listened with a rather gloomy face. At last he said, — " But think what we must go through before we so much as begin ! We haven't a marco among us, and still we must get to Seville somehow. It is, old Lopez B Pizarro. 12 says, at least one hundred and fifty miles ; and we shall be lucky if we get a ride now and then on a jaded donkey or a rickety cart.

When I think of it, I almost wish myself back among the pigs again." Francisco darted an angry glance at his companion, and exclaimed, — "What, Pedro: faint-hearted already? Out on such cowardly thoughts ! I'd rather starve than go back to that slave's work. Come, pluck up your courage! We can't find ourselves in a worse plight than we have been in all our lives." He rose from the ground, and, eagerly scanning such portions of the road as were visible here and there, added, — " We are not yet pursued. They may think we have gone another way, — towards Madrid. They did not suppose, perhaps, that we should climb the mountains in the night. But let us go forward. We shall not be safe till we are far away from here. I have heard that there is a great river in the valleys beyond the mountains. We must not rest till we have put that between us and our tyrants."

So saying, he bounded up the road with the buoyant step of youth and hope ; and his comrades, inspired by his cheerful and manly words, briskly followed him. As they trudged along, — now over bald ledges where the sun blazed remorselessly upon them, now through dense cool forests of chestnut and oak, now across marshy levels where the overgrown waste was covered with exasperating tangles of rank shrubs, through which they scrambled as best they could, — they talked, as they went, about the miseries of the past, and the bright and glowing hopes they had formed of the future. Ere many hours they reached the summit of the Guadalupe Mountains ; and it was with a sigh of relief that they reflected, that instead of climbing upward, sometimes over steep cliffs and near dangerous fissures, they would now descend by a gradual winding road to the green and sunny valleys they could just discern far below them.

Persuaded that, when once they had placed the mountains between them and the wretched homes they had left, they would be secure from pursuit, and free to pursue the journey at their leisure, they bounded down the road, now singing a verse of some rude peasant-song, now running a race to see which would first reach a certain tree or a bend in the road, now leaping lightly across a roaring mountain-brook. They soon found themselves in the midst of luxuriant fields of wheat and rye, and crossing turfy hillside pastures where flocks of sheep were quietly grazing. Then they came upon olive-groves, interspersed with thick-hanging vineyards, upon which the luscious and now just ripe clusters hung temptingly. There were grapes of every hue and size ; and our wanderers did not hesitate to eat their fill of the juicy fruit, their hunger having been once more sharpened by the long tramp they had taken since their breakfast on the crag.

It was now very hot, and the boys rested a while under the dense shade of a copse of chestnuts. But their young spirits soon rose again, and they pushed .on towards a straggling hamlet which they perceived Pizarro. 14 at a distance of a mile or two down the road. The hamlet consisted of a few peasant-huts ; and above it rose a hill, upon which stood the ruins of a once noble Moorish castle. No sooner did Francisco espy this ruin than he proposed that they should seek shelter within its crumbling walls for the night. They began to climb the hill, though they were now so weary that they could scarcely drag one leg after the other, when they encountered a rough-looking peasant trudging home from his day's work in the fields. He stopped, stared at the wanderers, and then asked them where they came from, and whither they were going.

Francisco frankly replied that they had run away from their homes beyond the mountains, that they were on their way to Seville to enlist in the wars, and that they proposed to spend the night in the castle-ruin. The peasant looked more curiously at them than ever. A grim smile gradually spread over his sun burnt face as he replied, — " No need of your going up there. Come home with me to my hut yonder. You shall have a bundle of hay in a corner, and to-morrow I will share my breakfast with you." The hospitable offer was no sooner made than joy fully accepted. The boys went back with the peasant, slept soundly on the hay, and rising, as did their host, with the dawn, partook of his frugal meal of chestnuts, coarse bread, goat's milk, and grapes. As, much refreshed and very grateful, they started forth to resume their journey, the peasant cried out to them, — " God give you luck ! and, if you ever get to be great captains, don't forget the night you spent in my hut."

Day after day they continued to trudge bravely along with their little bundles on their backs, picking up what bits of food they could in the villages through which they passed, regaling themselves on the grapes and other fruit they found plentifully by the wayside, and resting by night wherever they happened to be when the sun disappeared behind the hills. Usually they were obliged to content themselves with meagre fare, and even to go many hours without eating. Sometimes, however, they would be treated to goat's flesh and goat's milk by friendly peasants whom they met on the way ; now and then the goat herds would regale them with a choice bit of cheese, which they ate with great gusto with bread and onions or garlic ; and once, at a hospitable village inn, they were made very grand by being invited to eat an omelet in the kitchen.

Once in a while they obtained a ride on a cart or a donkey ; at other times they were gruffly refused this favour, and were forced to walk for miles through the hot sun with aching sides and blistered feet. Francisco, however, inspired his companions with his own buoyant and dauntless spirits. When they faltered, he urged them on again by picturing in glowing colours the stirring destiny before them, and by shaming them with his anger at their cowardice. They had been travelling thus for some days, when one afternoon they came in sight of a large town, — a larger town than either of them had ever seeD Pizarro. 1 6 before. It nestled close upon the sloping banks of a wide, swift river, which the wanderers could see appearing and disappearing in sparkling patches among the trees for miles away.

Above the town rose a hoary castle, its huge towers hung thick with ivy and other parasites, and its battlements looming steep and grim above the river ; on another hill stood a long low building, which the boys easily recognised as a convent ; near the convent was a prison ; while above the group of closely-built houses appeared the spires of two churches. The sight of this large town caused them to hasten their pace ; and they briskly pushed forward, and entered its narrow streets. On asking a passer-by, they learned that the place was Merida, and that the wide river which flowed by it was the Guadiana, one of the largest streams in Spain. Francisco, ignorant as he was, knew something at least of the geography of his native country. With cheery voice he told his mates that they had gone almost a third of the way from Truxillo to Seville, and that the most difficult part of the journey was that which they had already accomplished.

Though quite tired, the boys could not resist the temptation to wander about the streets of Merida, which presented many sights to attract their curiosity and wonder. They stared in at the shop windows ; and their mouths watered at the succulent viands they espied at the butchers' stalls, and the cakes which were dis played in the pastry-cooks' windows. They gazed with delight at a troop of gaily-dressed cavaliers, with their flowing plumes and glittering cuirasses, who pranced across the plaza ; all the more eagerly when they learned that these cavaliers were on their way to the wars in Italy. They listened to the playing of lutes, and singing, which were going on in front of a quaint old inn just by the river ; and admiringly watched the boats as they shot swiftly to and fro on the stream.

It was dusk before, utterly worn out with fatigue, they bethought themselves of their hunger, and the necessity of finding a shelter for the night. As they were in a large town, with no money, they despaired of obtaining the hearty meal they craved : so, choosing a secluded nook on the river-bank, they contented themselves with a few chestnuts and grapes which they had taken care to stow away in their bundles. Then they looked about them for a resting-place. There was one, happily, near at hand. About a quarter of a mile off they observed a large circular edifice, so lofty that even in the deepening dusk they could perceive that it was not an ordinary building, and that, moreover, it appeared to be u ruin. Passing once more into the narrow zigzag streets, then up a rather steep hill, and across a bridge spanning .a stream which ran into the Guadiana, they soon reached the structure.

Entering it by a very high and wide portal, they found themselves in a large cir cular space choked with weeds and rubbish. Around this space, which was roofless, and open to the air above, were built rows of stone seats, rising one be hind the other : these, too, were overgrown and tangled with a profusion of wild shrubs and vines. In this enclosure they easily found a convenient spot. Pizarro. 18 They without more ado threw themselves upon the bed of weeds, and were soon wrapped in deep slumber. Although they did not know it, they were sleeping amid the ruins of the noble old Roman amphitheatre, where, centuries before, the Roman conquerors of Spain had crowded on the rows of seats to witness famous horse and chariot races, bloody encounters of gladiators, and cruel contests of slaves with ferocious beasts.

There was but one high road passing southward from Merida : it was that which led to the city which was the goal of the boys' difficult journey, — Seville. From the top of the amphitheatre, to which they scrambled as soon as the bright rays of the rising sun aroused them, they could observe all the surrounding country ; and they were glad to see, just below the old castle, and not far away, a bridge spanning the Guadiana. They were soon tramping gaily across it, and, as they went, did not fail to admire its imposing proportions, its solid masonry, and wide-springing arches. They would have found, by counting them, that there were no less than eighty of these arches : and they might have been told that the bridge had been built by the warlike Roman emperor Trajan more than a thousand years before.

The rest of their journey was almost wholly through a country which seemed a continuous garden. Groves of olives and of oranges, dense vineyards covering the hillsides and hilltops, yellow wheat-fields spread over the intervales, dense forests of chestnut and oak affording a gratetul shade from the hot sun, and picturesque streams winding amid the meadows or dashing down from the hills, were passed in quick succession. The boys did not hurry after leaving Merida ; for they were now confident of not being pursued, and they felt sure of food and shelter the rest of the way. The world was all before them, and they knew that there was plenty of time at their disposal. Their tramp was now all the more enjoyable, as they came more frequently upon towns and villages, and met more people going to and fro.

Often they encountered a train of packmules carrying grain or fruit; now a flock of shaggy merino-sheep going from Castile into their own province, — Estremadura ; sometimes whole colonies of peasants — men, women, babies, donkeys, and all — going to reap the harvests in the lowlands ; and once in a while a troop of bravely caparisoned soldiers on their way to join the armies of King Ferdinand. There yet remained one more mountain range to cross, — that of the Sierra Morena. But it was less lofty than that of the Guadalupe ; and besides, they felt that they might make the ascent as leisurely as they pleased. They had now no pursuers to fear, no cruel punishment to dread. They crossed the Sierra Morena, and once more descended into valleys lovely to the eye, and fragrant with luxuriant and ripening fruit.

They heard with delight that the greater part of their journey had been passed, and that, by pushing resolutely forward, they would ere long reach their destination. So it proved. About noon one day they came in sight of the spires and domes of the celebrated city, Pizarro. 20 which glittered afar in the sunlight, and which they had undergone so much to reach. The noble steeple of the great cathedral, the largest in the world save St. Peter's at Rome, rose high above the other build ings ; and the boys exclaimed in wonder at beholding it. The vast palace of the Alcazar too, which looked as if it were a mile long, and was flanked by great square towers, was eagerly pointed out and gazed at. Their long journey was at last ended ; and as they entered the ancient, winding streets, threading then way amidst crowds of people attired in every variety and colour of costume, past balconied dwellings and fragrant gardens, across the spacious square with its splashing fountain, and under the shadow of the lofty cathedral, they declared that they had never imagined so grand and beautiful a city to exist in all the world.

Chapter II. Pizarro

A SOLDIER. MY readers may have guessed that the bravest and most determined of the runaways was no other than the hero of this book. It was indeed Francisco Pizarro, destined to become one of the most famous conquerors and adventurers the world has seen, who thus ran away from his wretched home in Truxillo, induced two boys as badly treated as himself to go with him, and travelled on foot to Seville to take part in the exciting and perilous events of his time. Pizarro, at the time of his escape, was about fifteen years old. From his earliest recollection he had known nothing but cruelty, drudgery, and hardship. His father, Gonzalo Pizarro, was not only a gentleman of wealth and good descent, but a brave soldier, who had fought with gallantry and distinction in the wars ; but his mother was a humble and ignorant peasant, who, it is said, gave birth to Francisco on the steps of a church, took him to the wretched hovel which was hei home, and reared him in her own condition of life.

Francisco's illegitimate birth was a stigma of which he was forced to suffer the penalty. While he Pizarro. 22 bore his father's name, Pizarro, he was not admitted to his house, or recognised as his son. The haughty old Spaniard disdained a child born in disgrace ; and so the poor little boy was consigned to his mother's low lot, to eat the bread of poverty, to grow up amid mean and squalid surroundings in ignorance and pri vation, and to follow the vocation of a swineherd. Almost as soon as he could walk, he was set to taking care of pigs ; and this he continued to do, until, rebel ling against his fate, and inspired with a fiery ambition, he took the bold resolve to leave the harsh past behind him, and carve out a future for himself. He had known but few of the joys of childhood. To look after the pigs from dawn till dark ; to sub sist on a scanty allowance of the coarsest food ; to sleep at night on a floor of cobble-stones thinly sprinkled with hay ; to be mercilessly beaten at the slightest neglect of his task ; and to continue this weary round day after day, and month after month — this had been the almost unbroken tenor of his life.

The hardships and ill treatment he suffered were not, perhaps, more severe in themselves than those of the other boys in his neighbourhood and condition. But his boyhood was doubtless more unhappy than theirs ; for he had inherited from his father a proud, fierce spirit, which could not patiently submit to the daily tyranny of those who were set above him. He was descended from a haughty, ambitious, hot-blooded race ; and, even in early youth, his soul was fired with aspirations which rose far above his humble lot as a swineherd. He chafed angrily under the brutal cruelty of those who drove him, day after day, to tasks which were revolting to him, but from which he could not escape. There were schools at Truxillo ; but poor Francisco, though he ardently longed to learn something, never attended school a day.

Fiercely in after-years did he curse those who in his youth had denied him the boon of even a little knowledge ; and bitterly did he lament, when a great conqueror and ruler, that he had never been taught to read or write. It happened, that while he was pursuing with fiery impatience, and anger in his heart, the detested round of his daily task, an event took place which thrilled his whole soul with ambition, and cast a bright ray of hope through the deep gloom of his life. A rough, weather-beaten sailor arrived in Truxillo, bringing with him wonderful news. Young Pizarro, as it chanced, fell in with this sailor, and heard his story ; and he listened to it with beating heart. A new land, the sailor said, had been discovered : he had seen it with his own eyes. -He had sailed with a great Italian captain, named Christopher Columbus, far across the unknown seas.

Sometimes, amid terrific storms, they had thought that they would be lost ; but at last they had reached a beautiful land smiling with plenty, and rich beyond conjecture, it was thought, in gold, silver, and precious stones. This land was believed to be a part of Asia, but a part unknown, at least, before ; and he had returned with Columbus to tell the marvellous story of its discovery and its wealth. The sailor gave a glowing account of all that he had seen : he described the perils and excitements of the voyage, Pizarro. 24 and made the boy's eyes glisten with his tales of " a life on the ocean-wave ;" in his rude fashion he told of the thrilling moment when the shout of " Land ! land !" echoed across the waters from ship to ship ; he pictured all the strange and remarkable sights he had seen on going ashore ; and he ended by relating how the news had created a great sensation at Cadiz and other cities on or near the coast, where other expeditions were already proposed to be fitted out for the newly-discovered country.

Young Pizarro, deeply affected by what he heard from the sailor, plied him with questions, and listened eagerly to his replies. As he tended the pigs by day, he pondered on what he had heard; and at night bright visions of distant lands, and exciting dreams of adventure by sea, attended his slumbers. Here, then, was a career worthy of his courage and ambition ; and he soon made up his mind that he would risk ail to pursue it. Pizarro had long thought he would like to be a soldier. As news of the Spanish victories penetrated to his remote home, he longed to join in the din and turmoil of the battle field. He resolved, therefore, that, as soon as chance favoured him, he would escape from his drudgery, make his way as best he could to Seville, join the army, and finally, if he found an opportunity, embark in some expedition to the newly-discovered countries beyond the ocean of which the sailor had told him.

Full of his scheme, which he imparted to two young companions, swineherds like himself, he waited a great while, as patiently as he could, for the moment to arrive when he might hope to escape. It came at last ; and, as we have seen, he succeeded in reaching Seville with his friends. They had not been long in the city before they saw many signs of military preparation. Troops of soldiers were constantly passing through the streets, and the transports in the river were actively getting ready to depart for the theatre of war. The boys were alone and penniless, and Seville was less hospitable than the rustic hamlets through which they had passed. The sight of the soldiers, too, in their gay attire and bravery of weapons and armour, re kindled the ardour of Pizarro, and made him im patient to become one of them.