History of the Conquest of PeruPrescott, William Hickling
History
History of the Conquest of Peru
Prescott, William Hickling
Incas; Peru -- History -- Conquest, 1522-1548
Having made these arrangements with such conscientious regard to the
welfare of the benighted heathen, Pizarro gave his infant city the name of
San Miguel, in acknowledgment of the service rendered him by that saint
in his battles with the Indians of Puna. The site originally occupied by
the settlement was afterward found to be so unhealthy, that it was
abandoned for another on the banks of the beautiful Piura. The town is
still of some note for its manufactures, though dwindled from its ancient
importance; but the name of San Miguel de Piura, which it bears, still
commemorates the foundation of the first European colony in the empire
of the Incas.
Before quitting the new settlement, Pizarro caused the gold and silver
ornaments which he had obtained in different parts of the country to be
melted down into one mass, and a fifth to be deducted for the Crown.
The remainder, which belonged to the troops, he persuaded them to
relinquish for the present; under the assurance of being repaid from the
first spoils that fell into their hands.6 With these funds, and other
articles collected in the course of the campaign, he sent back the vessels
to Panama. The gold was applied to paying off the ship-owners, and
those who had furnished the stores for the expedition. That he should so
easily have persuaded his men to resign present possession for a future
contingency is proof that the spirit of enterprise was renewed in their
bosoms in all its former vigor, and that they looked forward with the
same buoyant confidence to the results.
In his late tour of observation, the Spanish commander had gathered
much important intelligence in regard to the state of the kingdom. He
had ascertained the result of the struggle between the Inca brothers, and
that the victor now lay with his army encamped at the distance of only
ten or twelve days' journey from San Miguel. The accounts he heard of
the opulence and power of that monarch, and of his great southern
capital, perfectly corresponded with the general rumors before received;
and contained, therefore, something to stagger the confidence, as well as
to stimulate the cupidity, of the invaders.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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