Ecuador -- History -- To 1809; Peru -- History -- 1548-1820; Peru -- History -- Conquest, 1522-1548; Pizarro, Gonzalo, -1548
His Camp Master was Francisco de Carbajal, a veteran of the Italian
wars, now verging on his eightieth year, and very corpulent. His life
story, up to this time, will be found in the narrative of Cieza, in the
Sequel, and in notes. Carbajal is accused of great cruelty. It is true
that he showed no mercy to traitors and deserters, from policy not from
innate cruelty. The treachery of nearly every one in Peru is perfectly
astounding, as will be seen in Cieza’s narrative; and strong measures
were absolutely inevitable. But he was kind and indulgent to his own
men, and he had a wife who was attached to him, a Portuguese lady named
Leyton, of good family. Carbajal was a soldier with forty years of
experience in the wars of Italy and by far the ablest military man in
Peru. He was well educated, extraordinarily sagacious and far-seeing,
very witty and humorous, and possessed of almost incredible physical
endurance.
The wise old man saw that there could be no forgiveness for Gonzalo
Pizarro, and that it was quite futile to send envoys to Spain to explain
what had happened and to apply for the governorship for Gonzalo. He,
therefore, urged Gonzalo Pizarro to assume the kingship, to create
nobles, to grant _encomiendas_ in perpetuity, to marry an Inca princess,
and to enact judicious laws for the efficient protection of the Indians.
By these measures he would secure the support of all the Spaniards and
all the native population--there would be such unanimity that attacks
from without would be repulsed. The only safety was in a bold front. The
words of wisdom were only listened to with favour, but not adopted.
The Sequel is followed by an interesting letter from Carbajal to Pizarro
in which he refers to the kingship.
Pizarro hesitated and was lost. There was the basest treachery. Hinojosa
and Aldana delivered up Panama and the fleet to the cleric Pedro de la
Gasca, who had been sent out with full powers.
A translation of a curious document in the King’s library at Madrid
follows, giving an account of the storm encountered by Gasca on his
voyage to Peru.
Next there is a translation of Appendix No. 18 in Espada’s edition of
Cieza de Leon’s “Guerra de Quito.” It is only a fragment, but it
contains the account of the murder of the Inca Manco, given by his son
Titu Cusi Yupanqui, who was an eye-witness.
The last document is the exceedingly interesting Report by Diego
Rodriguez de Figueroa of his mission to Titu Cusi Yupanqui Inca, between
1565 and 1568.
[Illustration]
THE WAR OF QUITO[1]
BY
PEDRO DE CIEZA DE LEON
CHAPTER I
_How the Viceroy Blasco Nuñez Vela sailed from San Lucar, and what
happened until his arrival at the city of Panama, which is in the
kingdom of Tierra Firme._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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