"No more these feeble limbs their load sustain: "Spirit of pity! catch my fleeting breath, "A moment stay--and close my eyes in death-- "_Las Casas_, thee, thy God in mercy gave "To sooth my pangs--to find the wretch a grave."-- 180 She ceas'd--her spirit fled to purer spheres-- _Las Casas_ bathes the pallid corse with tears-- Fly, minister of good! nor ling'ring shed Those fruitless sorrows o'er the unconscious dead; Ah fly--'tis innocence, 'tis virtue bleeds, 185 And heav'n will listen, when an angel pleads; I view the sanguine flood, the wasting flame, I hear a suff'ring world _Las Casas_ claim! 188 [A] LAS CASAS, &c. that amiable Ecclesiastic, who obtained by his humanity the title of Protector of the Indies. [B] --On his crest Sat horror plum'd. _Par. Lost_, iv. 988. PERU. CANTO THE FOURTH. THE ARGUMENT. Almagro's _expedition to Chili--his troops suffer great hardships from cold, in crossing the Andes--they reach Chili--the Chilese make a brave resistance--the revolt of the Peruvians in Cuzco--they are led on by_ Manco-Capac, _the successor of_ Ataliba--_his parting with_ Cora, _his wife--the Peruvians regain half their city_--Almagro _leaves Chili--to avoid the Andes, he crosses a vast desert--his troops can find no water --the rest divide in two bands_--Alphonso _leads the second band, which soon reaches a fertile valley--the Spaniards observe the natives are employed in searching the streams for gold--they resolve to attack them._ PERU. CANTO THE FOURTH. Now the stern partner of Pizarro's toils, Almagro, lur'd by hope of golden spoils, To distant Chili's ever-verdant meads, Thro' paths untrod, a band of warriors leads; O'er the high Andes' frozen steeps they go, 5 And wander mid' eternal hills of snow: In vain the vivifying orb of day Darts on th' impervious ice his fervent ray; Cold, keen as chains the oceans of the Pole, Numbs the shrunk frame, and chills the vig'rous soul-- 10 At length they reach luxuriant _Chili's_ plain, Where ends the dreary bound of winter's reign; Where spring sheds odours thro' th' unvaried year, And bathes the flower of summer, with her tear.