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]