All those I have mentioned being assembled in the quarters of
Don Diego, Juan de Herrada said: "Look ye, Sirs! that if we show
determination and contrive to kill the Marquis, we avenge the death
of the Adelantado and secure the reward that our services done to
the King in this land merit, and if we do not go forward with our
intention, our heads will be set on the gallows which stand in the
_plaza_. But let each one choose the course he prefers in this
business." They all answered in conformity with his wishes, and so
they all went forth from the place where they were assembled, armed
with coats of mail, breast-plates, halberds, two cross-bows, and one
arquebus, shouting in loud voices: "Long live the King! Death to
tyrants!" García de Alvarado, with those I have mentioned, went out
by another street on horseback to support them. Those of Chile took
their way to the house of the Marquis along the city streets towards
the _plaza_. Only nineteen in number they passed through more than a
thousand people, and although these heard the shouts of the murderers,
by some secret judgment of God, they did not interfere. They
merely said, "Oh, they go to murder either the Marquis or Picado."
The conspirators reached the _plaza_ still shouting, "Long live the
King! Death to tyrants!" Sometimes the name of Almagro was heard. So,
without opposition, they came to the house of the Marquis. It was
strong, and to reach the apartments where he was, it was necessary to
cross two court-yards. In one there were narrow doorways, with doors
so strong that if one man shot the bolts, it would take more than two
hundred to force them. Besides these there was another door where the
Marquis was, which persons in his company could easily defend against
any who might come to assail him. But no attention was paid to these
things and there were no precautions taken.
[Illustration: PLAN OF A PART OF THE
CITY OF LIMA
THE PLAN OF LIMA
The seat of Pizarro's government was first at Jauja, in the mountains;
but this being found inconvenient it was removed to the coast plains,
where Lima still stands, and a scheme for laying out the city in
square allotments was adopted. It provided for 117 such squares, known
as _manzanas_, each side or _cuadra_ of which measured 147 _varas_ or
Spanish yards, or, according to Cobo, 450 _pies_ or Spanish feet. The
roadway between each square and the next was 40 _pies_ in width. The
_Plaza mayor_ with its adjoining roadway was left vacant, for public
use; and Cieza tells us that a gibbet was erected in the middle of
it. Every _manzana_ was subdivided into four equal portions called
_solares_, or sites; and the central group of these was allotted or
taken up when the city was founded, in 1535, in the manner stated
hereunder (_cf._ the Plan opposite, and _vide_ the Introduction, pp.
xxxviii-xxxix).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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