Chapter III: Contemporary Accounts of the Conquest of Peru

I. _Francisco de Xerés._ II. _Pedro Sancho._ III. _Tomás de
San Martín_; _Benito Peñalosa Mondragón_. IV. _Pedro Pizarro_;
_Cristóbal de Molina_. V. _Alonso Enríquez de Guzmán_; _Diego
Fernández_. VI. _Agustín de Zárate._ VII. _Pedro Cieza de
León._ VIII. _Girolamo Benzoni_; _Juan Fernández_.

I

[Sidenote: The story of Peru]

The especially important event in South America in the first half of the sixteenth century was the conquest of Peru. If the story as it has been frequently told has exaggerated somewhat the magnificence of the kingdom destroyed, this presentation has only perpetuated the impression made on the Spanish mind by contemporary rumours and reports. These reports and rumours inspired and kept alive for many decades the hope of finding other kingdoms equally wealthy, by the spoils of which the conquerors might be enriched.

[Sidenote: Effect of discovery]

[Sidenote: Francisco de Xerés]

Until the discovery of the Pacific and the voyage along the western coast, knowledge of America had been only very slowly increased, and in this process no especially startling statements had been received in Europe. But reports that an empire had been discovered, that the emperor had been captured, and that his subjects had offered untold amounts of gold and silver as his ransom, fired the imagination of the Spaniards and appealed to their cupidity. After this the business of exploration and conquest moved with greater rapidity. The number of persons in Spain wishing to emigrate or to join expeditions bound for the New World increased, and the settlements already established in the islands lost a large part of their inhabitants, carried away to Peru by the desire for adventure and the wealth to be obtained; and the eagerness to get information from America was greatly intensified. Reports and letters sent from Peru to satisfy this demand tended to augment the popular excitement, and in so far as they have been preserved they constitute an important part of the historical record of Pizarro’s enterprise in Peru. Those that were directed to the King or the Council of the Indies concerning the events of the conquest were usually deposited in the archives, and only a part of them have come to light. Among documents of this class belong some of the contemporary accounts of the conquest of Peru. Francisco de Xerés, the writer of such a document, was Pizarro’s secretary, who left Spain in January, 1530. His account was written in Peru at the request or by the order of Pizarro. He returned to Spain in July, 1534, and his report was printed in Seville in that year. Three years later a second edition was printed in Salamanca. The edition most frequently referred to is that of 1749. Xerés was an actor in, or a witness of, the remarkable events which he describes, and his narrative has the freshness and vividness of a story by one writing of what he saw. The Hakluyt Society included a translation of it into English in a volume entitled _Reports on the Discovery of Peru_. This volume contains also a translation of Hernando Pizarro’s letter to the audiencia of Santo Domingo. This letter gives a summary of the events of the conquest prior to November, 1533. There is given here, moreover, a translation of Miguel de Astete’s report on Hernando Pizarro’s expedition to Pachacamac.[15]

The paragraph describing the capture of Atahualpa may serve as an illustration of Xerés’ style of narration:

[Sidenote: Capture of Atahualpa]

[Sidenote: Xerés’ story]

“Then the Governor put on a jacket of cotton, took his sword and dagger, and, with the Spaniards who were with him, entered amongst the Indians most valliantly, and, with only four men who were able to follow him, he came to the litter where Atahualpa was, and fearlessly seized him by the arm, crying out ‘Santiago.’ Then the guns were fired off, the trumpets were sounded, and the troops, both horse and foot, sallied forth. On seeing the horses charge many of the Indians who were in the open space fled, and such was the force with which they ran that they broke down part of the wall surrounding it and many fell over one another. The horsemen rode them down, killing and wounding and following them in pursuit. The infantry made so good an assault upon those who remained that in a short time most of them were put to the sword. The governor still held Atahualpa by the arm, not being able to pull him out of the litter because he was raised so high. Then the Spaniards made such a slaughter among those who carried the litter that they fell to the ground, and, if the governor had not protected Atahualpa, that proud man would there have paid for all the cruelties he had committed. The governor, in protecting Atahualpa received a slight wound in the hand. During the whole time no Indian raised his arms against a Spaniard. So great was the terror of the Indians at seeing the governor force his way through them, at hearing the fire of the artillery and beholding the charging of the horses, a thing never before heard of, that they thought more of flying to save their lives than of fighting. All those who bore the litter of Atahualpa appeared to be principal chiefs. They were all killed, as well as those who were carried in the other litters and hammocks. One of them was a page of Atahualpa and a great lord, and the others were lords of many vassals and his counsellors. The chief of Caxamalca was also killed, and others; but, the number being very great, no account was taken of them, for all who came in attendance on Atahualpa were great lords. The governor went to his lodging with his prisoner Atahualpa despoiled of his robes, which the Spaniards had torn off in pulling him out of the litter. It was a very wonderful thing to see so great a lord taken prisoner in so short a time, who came in such power.”

II

[Sidenote: Sancho’s _Relación_]

[Sidenote: Spoils of gold and silver]

[Sidenote: Vases and figures]

In his _Relación de la conquista del Perú_ Pedro Sancho presented another contemporary account of the occupation of Peru. By reason of the writer’s relation to Pizarro the narrative acquired a partisan bias; it was expected to contribute to restoring the governor to the emperor’s favour. It was translated into Italian, and appeared in Ramusio’s _Viaggi_, published in Venice about 1550. An edition in Spanish by Icazbalceta was issued in Mexico in 1849. A part of Sancho’s document is included in the already mentioned volume called _Reports on the Discovery of Peru_. Sancho gives the following account of Pizarro’s distribution of the gold and silver collected: “He caused all the gold which had been collected to be melted, which was in small pieces, an operation quickly performed by Indians skilled in the process. And when the sum total was weighed, it was found to contain five hundred and eight thousand, two hundred odd pounds of gold. The fifth for H.M. was taken out, and it was one hundred and sixteen thousand and seventy odd pesos of good gold. And the same smelting was performed for the silver, which was found to contain two hundred and fifteen thousand marks, a little more or less, and of them one hundred and seventy thousand or so were fine silver in vessels and plates, pure and good, and the rest was not so, because it was in plates and pieces mixed with other metals, from which the silver was extracted. And from all this, likewise, was taken the fifth for H.M. Truly it was a worthy thing to be seen, this house where the melting took place, all full of so much gold in plates of eight and ten pounds each, and in vessels and vases and pieces of various forms with which the lords of that land were served, and among other very sightly things were four llamas in fine gold and very large, and ten or twelve figures of women of the size of the women of that land all of fine gold and as beautiful and well-made as if they were alive.... There were, besides, other silver objects of like form. The seeing of great vases and pieces of burnished silver was certainly a matter of great satisfaction. The governor divided and distributed all this treasure among all the Spaniards who were at Cuzco and those who remained in the city of Jauja, giving to each one as much good silver, and as much impure, together with as much gold [as he deserved], and to each man who had a horse he gave according to the man’s merit and that of the horse and in accordance with the services he had done; and to the peons he did the same according to what was posted up to his credit in the book of distributions, which was kept.”[16]

III

[Sidenote: Tomás de San Martín]

[Sidenote: San Martín in Charcas & Lima]

An inquiry into the justice of the gains made by the conquistadores was undertaken by Tomás de San Martín, a Dominican, who played a conspicuous rôle in Peru during the troubled period covering the last years of Pizarro’s rule, the introduction of the New Laws, the overthrow of the first viceroy, and the administration of President Gasca. While not much has come to light about the birth and parentage of San Martín, it is known that he took orders in the monastery of San Pablo in Córdoba in Spain: that he became a lecturer on arts and theology at Seville, in the college of Santo Tomás; and that he arrived very early in the island of Santo Domingo, where he laboured as a missionary among the Indians, exercising whatever influence he possessed to protect them from those who would reduce them to slavery. In this undertaking San Martín co-operated with Las Casas. Having returned to Spain, he was appointed by the king to be a member of the audiencia established at Santo Domingo. This post he later renounced, and joined a company of ecclesiastics going to Peru with Francisco Pizarro. He assisted at the founding of Piura and remained there, while Pizarro went on to Cajamarca, but after the murder of Atahualpa he rejoined Pizarro and went with him to Jauja. In 1534 he was sent to the province of Charcas, and thus became one of the first to preach Christianity in that region.

On the creation of the Dominican province in Peru San Martín became the Provincial, and from this time until he left America with President Gasca in 1550, he had part in the affairs of Lima. He was in the town when Pizarro was assassinated, June 26, 1541, was named by Cristóbal Vaca de Castro, who succeeded Pizarro, as a member of a commission appointed by Castro to take charge of the affairs of justice and administration in Lima, and was instrumental in the pacification of Peru, which was the object of Gasca’s mission. His part in this work and his known interest in the affairs of the colonies assured for him an especially favourable reception by the king, and presentation in 1552 as the first bishop of Charcas. He returned to Lima two years later and died there in March, 1554. A memorial in which he discussed the acquisitions of the conquistadores was published in Madrid.[17] Among San Martín’s writings we find also an account of the sacrifices made by the ancient Peruvians to their gods at seed-time and harvest, as well as on the occasion of undertaking public works.

[Sidenote: Peñalosa on Spaniards]

Like Las Casas and San Martín, other persons questioned the pretended right of the Spaniards to rob and destroy the Inca kingdom, and when these views were expressed they naturally provoked a reply. Such a reply was undertaken by Benito Peñalosa Mondragón, a Benedictine monk, in a book entitled _Libro de las cinco excelencias del español_ (1629). One of his arguments consisted in showing that great riches were acquired by the Spaniards from the colonial possessions, from the mines of gold and silver and mercury, and from various other sources; but it is not conceived that men like Las Casas and San Martín would be greatly moved by Peñalosa’s views.

IV

[Sidenote: Pedro Pizarro’s book]

Another account of the conquest of Peru is that by Pedro Pizarro, who went to America as a page to Francisco Pizarro in 1530, and remained with him until the governor’s assassination. He afterwards settled in Arequipa, and, in 1571, completed his _Relación del descubrimiento y conquista de los reinos del Perú_. This work has been characterized as “the narration of a rough half-educated soldier, and occupies much the same place in the history of the conquest of Peru as the work of Bernal Díaz does in that of Mexico.”[18]

[Sidenote: Molina of Santiago]

Cristóbal de Molina’s narrative of the conquest long remained in manuscript, and the writer was confounded with another author of the same name. They are now distinguished by calling this one Molina of Santiago and the other Molina of Cuzco. Molina of Santiago was born in Spain, travelled in that country, Italy, and Flanders, and went to America at the age of forty-one. The circumstances of his education and entry upon the religious life are unknown; but we are informed that he was in Santo Domingo in 1532 and at Panama in April of the following year. While at Panama he joined an expedition designed to take reinforcements to Pizarro, but by ill fortune the expedition was obliged to halt at the river San Juan, whence after a period of forty days the members returned to Panama. Molina went to Santo Domingo and later to Spain to carry news of Pizarro’s discoveries. He remained only a short time in the Peninsula, and in 1535 he was again in America, where, in July of that year, he joined Almagro at the battle of Salinas. Molina went from Cuzco to Lima, and from the latter city he wrote to the king, on the twelfth of June, 1539, setting forth the dangers he had encountered and the losses he had suffered in the royal service. Twelve years afterwards he took part in the Chilean campaigns of García Hurtado de Mendoza. Later he became attached to the cathedral at Charcas, lived in Lima, and finally returned to Chile, where he died as a priest in Santiago.

[Sidenote: Molina’s _Conquista_]

Molina’s _Conquista y población del Perú_ was written in Lima. It was printed for the first time in 1873 in _Sud-América_, of Santiago; it appeared later in Medina’s _Colección de documentos inéditos para la historia de Chile_ (vol. VII, 428). Besides his narrative of the conquest and settlement of Peru, Molina wrote a _Diario_ of Almagro’s expedition to Chile, in which he condemned the inhuman conduct of the conquistadores towards the Indians. He died in 1578 at the age of eighty-four, having many years before ceased to perform the duties of his priestly office on account of the failure of his mental faculties.

With respect to its style, the _Conquista y población del Perú_ is superior to most of the writings of its time, and historians have found it sufficiently important to be carefully considered among their sources of information.

V

[Sidenote: Enríquez de Guzmán]

A part of the personal narrative of Alonso Enríquez de Guzmán belongs to the list of contemporary accounts of the conquest of Peru. Sections thirty-five to fifty-four treat of Guzmán’s journey to Peru, which fell in the last part of 1533. He was absent from Spain between September, 1533, and the twenty-sixth of June, 1540, the date of his return to Madrid; and he was thus in Peru during the conflict between Pizarro and Almagro. The rest of the narrative is a record of his experience in Spain, chiefly in the Emperor’s service in the islands of Majorca and Iviça. After his return he sent to the emperor an account of his observations during his absence from Spain, giving prominence to the conflicts between the two conquistadores.[19]

A glimpse of Guzmán’s spirit may be had from the following statement at the end of his narrative:

[Sidenote: Guzmán’s confession]

“In the year of our Lord, 1533, during Lent, I confessed and received the most holy sacrament, as every faithful Christian ought to do. Amongst other things which I then did, was to declare, as I now declare, that many things in this book, both to improve the style, and to give an appetite to him who reads it, are not related exactly as they happened, though the substance is true: I therefore desire that each reader may believe as much as he ought to believe, so that neither his conscience nor mine may be hurt.”[20]

The part of Guzmán’s narrative that relates to America may be accepted as true; in fact, as has been suggested, “Guzmán as an eye-witness may be considered as the most original authority for all events in Peruvian history from the commencement of the siege of Cuzco in 1534 to the execution of Almagro in 1538.”

[Sidenote: Diego Fernández]

[Sidenote: Agustín de Zárate]

Diego Fernández, on the title-page of his _Primera y segunda parte de la historia del Perú_, identifies himself as “vecino de la ciudad de Palencia.” He took part in the campaign against Francisco Girón in 1554, and the subject of his narrative was Peru in the most stormy period of its early history, the period of the introduction of the New Laws, the rebellion of Gonzalo Pizarro, the mission of President Gasca, and the labours of the Viceroy Hurtado de Mendoza (1555-1561) to bring order out of the social chaos. This volume was published in Seville in 1571, but its sale was prohibited for a time because it contained certain ideas and statements which it was desired should not be circulated in America. On questions relating to the civil wars and the conflicts growing out of the introduction of the New Laws, the population of Peru was still divided in 1571, and any discussion of these events by a person who had had an active part in them would inevitably have provoked antagonism and kept alive the hostility of the two parties.[21]

VI

To the later part of the period of the Pizarros belongs the account given by Agustín de Zárate, who was sent to Peru to take charge of the accounts of the “kingdoms and provinces of Peru,” at the time that Blasco Núñez Vela was commissioned to become the first viceroy of the Spanish possessions in South America. Zárate had part in the conflicts occasioned by the arrival of Núñez Vela and the rebellion of Gonzalo Pizarro. He was one of the two commissioners sent by the oidores to order Pizarro to disband his army, which he held at Jauja, and enter Lima with only a small escort. Pizarro, however, sent out Captain Villegas, who met Zárate on the way, arrested him, took away his commission, confiscated his provisions, and imprisoned him at Huarochiri. Released after some days, he was persuaded to return to Lima, and it was suggested that in consideration of his release he should urge the audiencia to leave the government to Gonzalo Pizarro. Whatever may have been the influence of Zárate in this matter, Pizarro not long afterwards approached the capital and assumed the reins of government.

[Sidenote: Zárate’s _Historia del Perú_]

Having played his part in this turbulent period, a part regarding which writers venture a variety of opinions, Zárate returned to Spain, and, using notes made in America, wrote the _Historia del descubrimiento y conquista de la provincia del Perú_. His final plan for this work was to treat of the discovery and occupation of the country, and to narrate the principal events in the history of the colony until the pacification that followed the intervention of Pedro de la Gasca. The author is said to have intended that his work should remain in manuscript until after his death, but that under the persuasion, perhaps the orders, of Prince Philip, to whom he had presented it, he caused it to be printed in Antwerp in 1555.[22]

[Sidenote: Pizarro pays Alvarado]

[Sidenote: Almagro goes to Cuzco]

[Sidenote: Almagro-Pizarro compact]

[Sidenote: Almagro goes to Chile]

His style is less clear than that of some of his contemporaries, but his opportunities for gaining information enabled him to present abundant details of events within the period of his narrative. The following illustrative extract is from the thirteenth chapter of the second book. The person referred to as governor was, of course, Francisco Pizarro: “Diego de Almagro and Pedro de Alvarado[23] having arrived at Pachacamac, the governor, who had come there from Jauja, received them good-humouredly, and paid to Don Pedro the one hundred thousand pesos which he had agreed to give him for his military equipment, although by many persons he was advised not to pay that sum, affirming that the equipment was not worth fifty thousand, and that Don Diego had made that agreement under the constraint of fear of breaking with Don Pedro, for whom it was very advantageous, and that it would be better to send him a prisoner to his Majesty; and although the governor might have done that very easily and without danger, he wished to carry out the promise of Don Diego de Almagro, his colleague, and he paid him freely the one hundred thousand pesos in good coins which he allowed him to take with him to his territory of Guatemala, and Pizarro remained in Peru establishing the city of Lima, transferring thither the population that had been settled at Jauja, for the new site appeared to him more suitable and better adapted to all kinds of business, as it was a seaport. From there Don Diego went to Cuzco with a great number of persons, and the governor went down to Trujillo to reorganise the town and distribute the land. And there he learned that Don Diego de Almagro had wished to lead the city of Cuzco to revolt, for he had become aware that his majesty, with the news brought by Hernando Pizarro to him, had granted him a hundred leagues more of territory beyond the limits of Francisco Pizarro’s territory, which it was said did not extend quite to the city of Cuzco. Against this view Juan Pizarro and Gonzalo Pizarro, brothers of the governor, with a large number of others who joined them, protested, and every day they were in conflict with Don Diego and with Captain Soto, who was one of his adherents; but at last he was not able to go out with him, for the majority of the cabildo took the side of the governor and his brothers. And when the governor was informed of the state of affairs he went immediately to Cuzco, and by his presence quieted everything, and pardoned Don Diego, who was greatly moved by what he had done without having either title or provision for it, save that they had told him it had been conceded to him. And they formed a new agreement and company in this manner, that Don Diego de Almagro should go on an expedition of discovery by land towards the south, and that if he should find a good country, he might ask the territory of His Majesty for himself, and, not succeeding in this, they should divide the territory of Don Francisco between them; and after this they swore on the consecrated Host not to oppose one another. And some say that Almagro swore to abandon all interest in Cuzco and in the region for a hundred and twenty leagues farther south although his Majesty might concede it to him, and he took a solemn oath, saying, ‘If I shall break this oath, may it please thee, O Lord, to curse me body and soul.’ Having made this agreement and taken this oath, Don Diego made his preparations and started on his expedition with more than five hundred men who followed him, and the governor returned to Lima.”

VII

[Sidenote: Cieza de León in the rush for America]

In the third and fourth decades of the sixteenth century the desire for adventure in the New World moved many persons to emigrate from Spain. Well-founded reports that had been made public awakened a profound interest in America, and when to these reports there were added wildly extravagant tales of rich principalities there that might be plundered, a wave of excitement swept members of all classes towards the port of departure. Men of birth and cultivation were in the race with ignorant and rough adventurers. Diego de Alvarado, Garcilaso de la Vega, and Lorenzo de Aldana represented the first of these classes, but the majority of the other class were, in many cases, men of disappointed ambitions or such persons as usually yield to the allurements of newly discovered mines of gold. Among the emigrants of this time was Pedro Cieza de León, a boy of thirteen or fourteen years of age. Like many others of his time, he left no record of his origin, save that he was born in the town of Llerena in Estremadura. Even the fleet with which he sailed is not positively known; but it is probable that he went with Rodrigo Durán, who left Cadiz in 1534, and entered the bay of Cartagena in November of that year. Three years later Cieza de León was at the town of San Sebastian on the gulf of Darien. In this year 1538, now nineteen years old, he was a private soldier in the force of four hundred Spaniards organized by Pedro Vadillo for the campaign up the valley of the Atrato.

[Sidenote: Vadillo’s Expedition]

Juan de Vadillo, who led this expedition, was a member of the audiencia of Santo Domingo. He had been sent to San Sebastian to inquire into the conduct of Governor Heredia, and after the dismissal of that officer, he departed for the interior. This campaign, like many others of that time, was attended by serious obstacles: by the lack of food, by the loss of men by disease, and by the unrelenting hostility of the Indians. In view of the hardships they encountered the men were disposed to revolt, and asked to be led back to San Sebastian, but the determination of the leader to advance finally persuaded the soldiers to follow; but on arriving at Cali they refused to proceed further, and Vadillo went on to Popayán without them. From that point he went to Panama, where he was arrested and taken to Spain by way of Cartagena.

[Sidenote: Cieza de León at Cartago]

The soldiers of Vadillo, who had been a year in the wilderness, now established themselves in the Cauca valley, where Robledo, under Benalcázar, had founded settlements. For about six years, ordinarily supposed to be critical years of a youth’s education, Cieza de León had been in America, sharing the hardships, the dangers, and the demoralizing influences of expatriated soldiers and settlers in an inhospitable climate and in the presence of unfriendly Indians. He settled at Cartago, and remained in the valley five or six years. Here he gathered and set down important information concerning the Indians; he also described the progress of Vadillo’s expedition across the “forest-covered plains,” over the mountains, and along the Cauca river. In the dedication of one of his works to the king he thus made reference to his zeal: “Oftentimes when the other soldiers were reposing, I was tiring myself by writing. Neither fatigue nor the ruggedness of the country, nor the mountains and rivers, nor intolerable hunger and suffering, have ever been sufficient to obstruct my two duties, namely, writing and following my flag and my captain without fault.”

[Sidenote: Cieza de León joins Gasca’s troops]

President Gasca’s call for loyal troops to assist in suppressing the rebellion led by Gonzalo Pizarro, offered to Cieza de León an opportunity for new adventures. The boy had grown to be a mature man of thirty, whose physical and intellectual faculties had been developed under the tuition of sixteen years of rough life. With other loyal soldiers he responded to the call, and marched from Popayán by way of Pasto, Quito, and Riobamba to the sea, and along the shore to Lima. From Lima he crossed the first ridge of the Andes to Jauja, thence proceeded southward through Guamanga to the valley of Andahuaylas, near the Apurimac, where the troop of which he was a member was taken into Gasca’s army.

[Sidenote: Cieza de León at Cuzco]

On this journey Cieza de León had an opportunity to see the Ecuadorian plateau, the western side of the Andes, and the sandy region of the coast, as well as some of the more important ruins of Inca buildings, the ancient roads, and the system of canals designed for irrigation under the Inca régime. He moreover witnessed the overthrow of Gonzalo Pizarro and was present at the execution of both Pizarro and Carbajal. Later he went to Cuzco. At this time Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, then eleven years of age, was at school in that city, and the two persons who were destined to become pre-eminent among the early historians of Peru were here either completing or beginning their training for the literary undertakings that were before them. Cieza de León had prepared himself for his work in the camp, and in extensive journeys over the country he was to describe. Garcilaso de la Vega was receiving such tuition as the Church of his day was accustomed to sanction. He was then studying Latin under the instruction of Canon Cuellar. In 1549 Cieza de León visited the province of Charcas, and in the ninety-fifth chapter of his Travels he wrote: “I went to see the cities in that region for which purpose the President Gasca gave me letters of introduction to the corregidores, that I might learn all that was worthy of notice.”[24]

He passed along the eastern shore of Lake Titicaca, and visited the mines of Porco and Potosí. From Potosí he went to Arequipa, and thence by way of the coast to Lima. At Lima he completed the notes of his journey in September, 1550. From his observations he gives the following account of the fair of Potosí:

[Sidenote: The fair at Potosí]

[Sidenote: Trading at the fair]

“In all parts of this kingdom of Peru we who have travelled over it know that there are great fairs or markets, where the natives make their bargains. Among these the greatest and richest was formerly in the city of Cuzco, for even in the time of the Spaniards its greatness was caused by the gold which was brought and sold there, and by the other things of all kinds that were sent into the city. But this market or fair at Cuzco did not equal the superb one at Potosí where the traffic was so great that, among the Indians alone, without including Christians, twenty-five or thirty thousand golden pesos exchanged hands daily. This is wonderful, and I believe that no fair in the world can be compared to it. I saw this fair several times, and it is held in a plain near the town. In one place there were baskets of coca, the most valuable product in these parts. In another place there were bales of cloth and fine rich shirtings. Here were heaps of maize, dried potatoes, and other provisions, there great quantities of the best meat in the country. The fair continued from early morning until dusk, and as those Indians got silver every day, and are fond of eating and treating, especially those who have intercourse with Spaniards, they all spent what they got, so that people assembled from all parts with provisions and other necessaries for their support. Many Spaniards became rich in this settlement of Potosí by merely employing two or three Indian women to traffic in the fair. Great numbers of Yanaconas, who are free Indians with the right of serving whom they please, flocked to the fair, and the prettiest girls from Cuzco and all parts of the kingdom were to be met with there.

“I observed that many frauds were committed, and that there was little truth spoken. The value of articles was not great, and cloths, linens, and Hollands were sold almost as cheap as in Spain. Indeed, I saw things sold for so small a price that they would have been considered cheap in Seville.”[25]

Cieza de León returned to Spain after a sojourn of seventeen years in America.

[Sidenote: _Crónica del Perú_]

The first fruit of the experience and studies of these seventeen years was _Parte primera de la crónica del Perú_, which treats, according to the sub-title, “of the demarcation of the provinces, the description of them, the foundation of the new cities, the rites and customs of the Indians, and other strange things worthy of being known.” This work was first published at Seville in 1553. The writer found interest in almost every phase of the country and its people, and scholars have accepted his views and conclusions as generally worthy of credence. Through the excellence of its style the book has proved to be one of the most attractive accounts of early Peru, and of the western part of the territory now claimed by the republic of Colombia.

[Sidenote: Prescott on Cieza de León]

Mr. Prescott refers to Cieza de León as “an author worthy of particular note. His _Crónica del Perú_ should more properly be styled an itinerary, or rather geography of Peru. It gives a minute topographical view of the country at the time of the conquest; of its provinces and towns, both Indian and Spanish; its flourishing sea-coasts; its forests, valleys, and interminable ranges of mountains in the interior, with many interesting particulars of the existing population—while scattered here and there may be found notices of their early history and social policy. It is, in short, a lively picture of the country in its physical and moral relations, as it met the eye at the time of the conquest, and in that transition period when it was first subjected to European influences.”[26]

[Sidenote: Second & third parts of the _Crónica_]

The second part of the _Crónica del Perú_ was written, either completely or partially, before Cieza de León left Peru. In the prologue of his work the author announces the plan of this Part. He proposed to treat of the government of the Incas, of their great deeds and policy; to “describe the superb and magnificent temples which they built, the roads of wonderful size which they made, and other great things that were found in this kingdom. I shall also give an account in this book of what the Indians say concerning the deluge, and how the Incas magnify the grandeur of their origin.” The subject of the third Part was the discovery and conquest of Peru by Pizarro, and the rebellion of the Indians; the fourth Part treats of the civil wars of Peru. Only certain sections of the third and fourth Parts have been printed.

The second Part remained in manuscript until 1873, when it was printed by the Peruvian scholar, Dr. Manuel González de la Rosa. In 1880 it was edited by Marcos Jiménez de la Espada, and printed at Madrid. Three years later an English translation of it, by Sir Clements R. Markham, was issued by the Hakluyt Society. In collecting the information on which this Part is based, Cieza de León sought from the Indians what they knew concerning the inhabitants of Peru before the period of the Incas.

[Sidenote: Preserving the unwritten history]

After setting forth in this second Part what he was able to find out concerning the Indians before the period of the Incas, Cieza de León devotes his pages especially to the institutions and ceremonies of the monarchy, and to the history of the Incas in the line of their succession down to Atahualpa. The following passage from the twelfth chapter presents an account of the method employed to preserve the history of the kingdom, and also an illustration of the author’s writing:

[Sidenote: The narration]

“Some of the most learned of the people were chosen to make known the lives of those lords in songs, and the events of their reigns, with the object I have already described. And it is also to be noted that besides this, it was the custom among them, and a law much kept and observed, for each king, during his reign, to select three or four old men, known for their intelligence and ability, who were instructed to retain in their memory all the events that happened in the provinces, whether they were prosperous or whether they were the reverse, and to compose songs to be handed down, so that the history of the reign might be had in remembrance in after times. But these songs could not be recited or made public, except in the presence of the lord, and those who were charged with this duty, during the reign of the king, were not allowed to say anything which referred to him. But after his death they spoke to his successor in the empire, almost in these very words: ‘Oh, great and powerful Inca, the Sun, the Moon, the earth, the hills and the trees, the stones, and thine ancestors, may they all preserve thee from misfortune and make thee prosperous, happy, and successful over all that are born. Know that the events which occurred in the days of thy fathers are these.’ Then in the narration, they stood in great humility, with eyes cast on the ground and hands lowered. They could very well do this for there were among them some men with very good memories, sound judgments, and subtle genius, and full of reasoning power, as we bear witness, who have heard them even in these our days.

“As soon as the king understood what was related to him, he caused other aged men to be called, and charged them with the duty of learning the songs which were handed down from memory, and to prepare others touching the events which might occur in his own reign.”

[Sidenote: _Guerra de Quito_]

Besides these works dealing with his travels and the history and institutions of the Inca kingdom, Cieza de León wrote a history of the conquest and the civil wars of Peru. Only a part of this work has been published, the first part of the _Guerra de Quito_, edited by Jiménez de la Espada. This was printed in Madrid in 1877. The fate of the rest of the manuscript is unknown. The part here published is the third book of the Civil Wars of Peru, and gives an account of the conflict between Gonzalo Pizarro and Blasco Núñez Vela near the city of Quito. It opens with the departure of Blasco Núñez Vela from San Lucar in Spain to assume his duties as the first viceroy of Peru. It describes the journey of the viceroy and his arrival in Peru, the effect of the introduction of the New Laws, the appeal to Gonzalo Pizarro to become the leader of the revolt against the viceroy, the reception of Núñez Vela at Lima, and the course of the rebellion until a short time before the triumph of Gonzalo Pizarro and the death of the viceroy near Quito.[27]

[Sidenote: Cieza de León’s plan]

Cieza’s work was designed to consist of four parts: 1. Geography and description of Peru; 2. History of the Incas and of the ancient civilization of Peru; 3. Discovery and conquest of Peru; 4. The civil wars of the conquistadores of Peru. In his _Obras completas_ (VIII, 143-150) Barros Arana discusses the question as to what extent this programme was carried out by the author.

VIII

[Sidenote: Girolamo Benzoni]

[Sidenote: Benzoni goes to America]

Girolamo Benzoni, the author of _La Historia del mondo nuovo_, was a contemporary of Cieza de León. He was born at Milan about 1519, and at the age of twenty-one he undertook a voyage to America, moved by the marvellous stories of adventure and of quickly acquired wealth that were circulated in Europe. His route to the port of departure led him to Medina del Campo, thence to Seville and down the Guadalquivir to San Lucar. At this port he embarked for the Canary Islands, fearing that as a foreigner he would not be permitted to take passage directly from Spain to the Indies. After two months spent in the islands, he set out for America, and in the course of time we find him involved in the unfortunate enterprises of Governor Ortal in Venezuela, attracted by the governor’s promise of riches. More fortunate, however, than many of the governor’s followers, he escaped alive, although desperately ill. That he did not suffer a worse fate was due in a large measure to the care taken of him by Antonio de Castiglioni, a priest, who accompanied him to the island of Margarita. Later he embarked for Porto Rico, and sailed thence to Santo Domingo, where he was in 1544, and where he remained for eleven months. In the course of his subsequent wanderings he visited Cuba, Tierra Firme, Nombre de Dios, Panama, Cartagena, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Peru. During some parts of these journeys, he suffered extremely from hunger, particularly in Nicaragua. Of his last years in America and his return to Italy, he gives the following account:

[Sidenote: Leaves America on Gasca’s order]

“Three years after my arrival in Peru, I found myself possessed of some thousands of ducats, and quite tired of remaining in these countries. Moreover, President Gasca had ordered all foreigners to quit the country, in consequence of its having been reported to him by some Spaniards that the Levantines, that is that we were false and cruel, and had caused the death of some of them. Therefore, when I was at Guayaquil, I availed myself of a large boat that arrived there laden with merchandise from Panama, to return to my own country. Accordingly, as soon as the master of it was ready, I embarked on the 8th of May, 1550. We sailed, and in the port of Zalaga we found President Gasca, who was going to Panama to cross over to Spain. He ordered our master to sail in company with him, for otherwise he was going alone. But as the bark had to take in a cargo of maize, the master requested to be left behind on account of business. The President started, and we remained until the vessel was loaded. Sailing soon after this, we arrived at Manta, where the vessel struck a rock and sank, all the passengers and crew, however, were saved, with the greater part of their gold and silver.

[Sidenote: Benzoni in Nicaragua]

“The bark being wrecked, as here described, it became necessary to wait for another passage; and at the end of fifty days, a vessel arriving from Lima, we started on her and soon arrived at Panama. Hearing there that the president had sailed from Nombre de Dios for Spain with all the ships, I went to Nicaragua. There I had a long and severe disease, so that at the end of four years, being then in Guatemala, and ships arriving from Spain, I went to Puerto de los Caballos, whence I sailed; but after navigating a few days, when we were near the island of Cuba, there arose a very severe storm, which drove the ship on shore, and almost all the specie on board was lost; scarcely could the crew be saved. After thirty-four days of hard labour and great dangers, we entered the port of Havana, expecting to find the fleet there; but it had sailed eight days before for Spain.

[Sidenote: Benzoni’s return to Spain]

“I remained at Havana very discontented on two accounts: firstly, from having lost part of my small property in the wreck already mentioned; and, secondly, because we found that the fleet had sailed; but on hearing how it had been lost, I praised God for his divine grace that preserved me from it, and did not permit me to embark, for otherwise I should undoubtedly have been lost with the others. Ten months after these events the Indian fleet arrived at Havana, consisting altogether of fourteen vessels, large and small. We soon sailed, with the help of Providence, and in thirty-nine days, though undergoing a frightful storm on the voyage, we reached a Portuguese island, commonly called Madera.

“Having taken on board there bread and wine and other provisions, we again set sail. At the end of eight days, on the 13th of September, 1556, we entered the port of San Lucar de Barameda, and thence proceeded to Seville. As soon as I was cleared, I went to Cadiz, and having embarked in an urca, at the end of two months I reached Genoa, where I rejoiced exceedingly, and soon afterwards arrived at Milan; always praising the Majesty of God, His power, and that of our Saviour, for having granted me the grace to see so many strange things, and so much of the world, and so many foreign countries; and for having liberated me out of so many serious trials. When I reflect, it seems to me impossible that a human body could have undergone so much—_che un corpo humano habbia potuto supportar tanto_.”

[Sidenote: Fernández’s _Relación_]

Juan Fernández’s _Relación_, dealing with the social disturbances of Peru, after the death of Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza (1551-1552) and the causes from which they proceeded is a clearly written and trustworthy document, which remained unpublished until 1865. It is especially valuable as a critical investigation of the principal causes and events of Girón’s rebellion.[28] Its author was the fiscal of the audiencia of Lima, and arrived in Peru either with Pedro de la Gasca or with Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza, probably with the latter.