History of the Conquest of PeruPrescott, William Hickling
History
History of the Conquest of Peru
Prescott, William Hickling
Incas; Peru -- History -- Conquest, 1522-1548
The new church of San Francisco, the first Christian temple in Peru, was
endowed with two thousand two hundred and twenty pesos of gold. The
amount assigned to Almagro's company was not excessive, if it was not
more than twenty thousand pesos; 7 and that reserved for the colonists of
San Miguel, which amounted only to fifteen thousand pesos, was
unaccountably small.8 There were among them certain soldiers, who at
an early period of the expedition, as the reader may remember,
abandoned the march, and returned to San Miguel. These, certainly, had
little claim to be remembered in the division of booty. But the greater
part of the colony consisted of invalids, men whose health had been
broken by their previous hardships, but who still, with a stout and willing
heart, did good service in their military post on the sea-coast. On what
grounds they had forfeited their claims to a more ample remuneration, it
is not easy to explain.
Nothing is said, in the partition, of Almagro himself, who, by the terms
of the original contract, might claim an equal share of the spoil with his
associate. As little notice is taken of Luque, the remaining partner.
Luque himself, was, indeed, no longer to be benefited by worldly
treasure. He had died a short time before Almagro's departure from
Panama;9 too soon to learn the full success of the enterprise, which, but
for his exertions, must have failed; too soon to become acquainted with
the achievements and the crimes of Pizarro. But the Licentiate Espinosa,
whom he represented, and who, it appears, had advanced the funds for
the expedition, was still living at St. Domingo, and Luque's pretensions
were explicitly transferred to him. Yet it is unsafe to pronounce, at this
distance of time, on the authority of mere negative testimony; and it must
be admitted to form a strong presumption in favor of Pizarro's general
equity in the distribution, that no complaint of it has reached us from any
of the parties present, nor from contemporary chroniclers.10
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account