History of the Conquest of Peru: With a Preliminary View of the Civilization of the IncasPrescott, William Hickling
History
History of the Conquest of Peru: With a Preliminary View of the Civilization of the Incas
Prescott, William Hickling
Incas; Peru -- History -- Conquest, 1522-1548
"Porque los Vecinos, sin aiuda i servicios de los Naturales no se
podian sostener, ni poblarse el Pueblo . . . . . . A esta causa,
con acuerdo de el Religioso, i de los Oficiales que les parecio
convenir asi al servicio de Dios, i bien de los Naturales, el
Governador deposito los Caciques, i Indios en los Vecinos de este
Pueblo, porque los aiudasen a sostener, i los Christianos los
doctrinasen en nuestra Santa Fe, conforme a los Mandamientos de
su Magestad." Xerez Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. III. p.
187.]
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.
[Footnote 6: "E sacado el quinto para su Magestad, lo restante
que pertenecio al Egercito de la Conquista, el Gobernador le tomo
prestado de los companeros para se lo pagal del primer oro que se
obiese." Oviedo, Hist. de las Indias, Ms. Parte 3, lib. 8, cap.
2.]
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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