disdaining to ask for mercy and murmuring "Jesus" just as the fatal blow fell. Thus perished by the sword this great man of blood. The measure he had meted out to Atahuallpa and Almagro was measured to him again. He who had shamelessly broken his oath times without number to gain his own high ends was slain by treacherous, cowardly assault. But his great vices should not blind us to his greater virtues. Courageous, indomitable, far-sighted, patriotic, large-minded, public-spirited, possessing a God-given instinct for seeing straight to the centre of a problem and the energy to strike at the psychological moment, he was equally great as an explorer, a soldier, a general, a diplomatist, and an administrator. Even his shocking moral delinquencies lose something of their turpitude when we consider the greatness of his aims and the baseness of his origin. A bastard, a common soldier, a penniless adventurer, a man who had to fight his way up by his own wits, courage and parts, in the worst of schools, it was not to be expected that he would be scrupulous. But that his real nature was magnanimous, generous, and truthful is proven by the many instances in which he forgave his enemies and kept his word to his serious loss, and that his ambition was not sordid is shown by his self-sacrificing devotion to the public good during the later years of his life. Formed in nature's grandest mould, circumstances and environment had much deformed his character, but the original lineaments are plain. The news of the murder threw Peru into confusion. In Lima the governor's friends hid themselves or fled; a hundred sympathisers joined the assassins; the rudders and sails of the ships in port were taken away so that no word could be sent to Panama; and all the treasure in the city was plundered. Young Almagro assumed the title of governor of Peru, but he and Rada soon realised that the vast majority at Lima regarded them with execration, while threatening messages came from the commanders in other towns. Rada and the boy usurper started up the road for Jauja and Cuzco. At the former place Rada died, but his protege, though only twenty-two years old, now showed unexpected ability and resource. Suppressing with bloody severity a quarrel among his captains, he took the road to Cuzco, where his father's party was strongest.