perished in this civil war, before the reduction of the aborigines, has been set down at over one hundred thousand. The leader, historic ally known as Tupac Amaru the Second, with several of his family, was finally taken prisoner, and was publicly quartered at Cuzco.

CHAPTER IV.

PIZARRO LANDS AT TUMBEZ.- -MARCHES SOUTHWARD, AND FOUNDS SAN MIGUEL.-PROCEEDS IN QUEST OF THE INCA.CROSSES THE ANDES.-FRIENDLY MESSAGES.-ARRIVAL AT CAXAMALCA.-INTERVIEW WITH ATAHUALLPA.

HIS RESERVE.-STRENGTH OF THE PERUVIANS.

ON landing his forces at Tumbeż, Pizarro was surprised to find the town, lately so splendid and populous, deserted and demolished. A party of Indians gave him a hostile reception, but his hopes were reanimated, it is said, by a note, written, perhaps, by two Spaniards whom he had left on a former voyage, and purporting as follows: "Know, whoever you may be, that may chance to set foot in this country, that it contains more gold and silver than there is iron in Biscay."

Early in May, 1532, with the principal part of his force, he set forth for the interior, marching through a thickly-settled country, and obtaining abundant supplies from the natives, whom he conciliated by gentle treatment. Formal proclamation, at every village, was made in behalf of the political and ecclesiastical supremacy of the emperor and the pope; and the natives, though not comprehending a word of the mystical ceremony, their silence being held for consent, were duly enrolled by a notary as subjects of Spain. Thirty leagues south of Tumbez, he founded a city, named, in fulfilment of his vow, San Miguel, and, enslaving the natives of the adjoining region, distributed them among the Spanish colonists. The reason assigned was, "that it would redound to the service of God, as well as of the natives themselves—* * that they might sustain the settlers, and that the Christians might indoctrinate them in our Holy Faith." Considerable gold which had been acquired by the troops, Pizarro persuaded them to send back to Panama, as a

means of enticing fresh volunteers to share the arduous enterprise in which they were engaged.

In this march he had learned much of the state of the country, and the reports of its wealth had been confirmed beyond all reasonable doubt. He now resolved to set forth on a visit to the Inca Atahuallpa, probably with no definite ideas of immediate conquest, but from eager desire to behold the extraordinary state and riches, with glimpses of which his imagination had been so long inflamed. Leaving a small garrison at San Miguel, on the 24th of September, with the remainder of his little army, he set forth in quest of the distant and unknown capital of the Peruvian monarch. After a march of five days through a most beautiful country, cultivated with the perfection of agricultural skill, he halted, and with politic boldness, invited all who were averse to the expedition to return. Only nine accepted the offer, and the rest, by declining it, were irrevocably pledged to prosecute the adventure. With an hundred and sixtyeight men, a third of whom were cavalry, he continued his march to the mountains.

At a place called Zaran, he halted for a week, and dispatched De Soto to a Peruvian military post, further on. That officer, on his return, was accompanied by an emissary from the inca himself, bearing presents for the Spanish general, and a friendly message, inviting him to court. By the aid of interpreters much civility was exchanged, and a courteous answer was dispatched to the Peruvian court. few days' march brought the Spaniards to the foot of the Andes, behind which, at the town of Caxamalca, they were informed, Atahuallpa, with his army, lay encamped.

A

An easy and level road, leading to Cuzco, the Indian capital, contrasted with the terrors of the ascent, and the dangers which might lie beyond, caused many of the soldiers to waver in their resolution; but Pizarro, with his customary eloquence, urged them on, entreating that they would not expose themselves to the contempt of the inca by drawing back, and assuring them that the Lord would ever be found fighting on their side. The march up the mountain proved toilsome and dangerous in the extreme, the cavaliers being compelled to lead their horses along frightful ledges and precipices, where a single mis-step would prove destruction; and where a few resolute men might have withstood their march altogether. They also suffered greatly from cold. At night they lodged in a strong fortress of stone, and at day break resumed the march. A friendly embassy from the

inca, bearing presents, met them on the way, and after a toilsome march of seven days, descending with difficulty the rugged sierra, they came in view of Caxamalca.

That city, inhabited by a refined and industrious people, about ten . thousand in number, lay in a beautiful valley, among lofty mountains; and at the hot baths, a league distant, was encamped the imperial army, covering the hill-sides, for miles, with its tents of snowy cotton. A feeling of dismay seized the little force of audacious visitors. "So many did they appear," says one of them, "that for certain we were filled with dread, for we had never dreamed that the Indians could have held so proud a state, nor so many tents, pitched with such skill, the like whereof was never before seen in the Indies, and caused in all the Spaniards great fear and confusion: howbeit, it would never have done to show it, or in the least to recoil; for if any sign of weakness had appeared, the very Indians we had with us would have killed us: so, with a sprightly bearing, after having well surveyed the aforesaid town and tents, we descended into the valley below and entered Caxamalca." (November 15th, 1532.)

The town was deserted, and Pizarro, taking up his quarters in the great square, dispatched his brother Hernando, with De Soto and a few of the cavalry, to the camp of the Indians. In the court of light summer-house, at the baths, they found the inca, seated on a low cushion, surrounded by his nobles. His dress was simple, but he wore on his forehead the crimson borla or fringe, the emblem of imperial dignity. His demeanour was that of entire calmness and even apathy. Without dismounting, the Spanish emissary, by a native interpreter named Felipillo, discharged his errand, which included accounts of the greatness of the Spanish monarch, proffers of instruction in the Faith, and the request of a royal visit to the Spanish camp. One of the nobles answered, "it is well;" but Atahuallpa preserved an appearance of entire apathy and unconsciousness till Hernando entreated a personal reply, when, with a slight smile, he turned his head, and answered, "Tell your captain I am keeping a fast, which will last till to-morrow morning; I will then visit him, with certain of my nobles. Meanwhile, let him occupy the public buildings on the square, and none other, till I come." As he spoke, he looked with some interest on the war-horse of De Soto, and that cavalier, giving his steed the rein, dashed swiftly across the plain, displaying the power and speed of his animal. Returning in

full career, he reined the impatient charger short upon his haunches, so near the person of the inca, that the foam from his mouth lighted on the imperial garments; but Atahuallpa still preserved a demeanour of calm and almost unconscious apathy. Returning, the emissaries dismayed their companions with an account of the power and. state of the inca, and the formidable number of his army-an alarming report, fully confirmed at night by the sight of innumerable watch-fires in the camp of the Peruvians.

CHAPTER V.

CRUEL AND AUDACIOUS SCHEME OF PIZARRO. THE VISIT OF
THE INCA.-SCENE WITH THE FRIAR VALVERDE.-TER-
RIBLE MASSACRE OF THE PERUVIANS.-SEIZURE OF
THE INCA. HIS FORTITUDE.-PLUNDER OF THE
CITY AND CAMP.-EXTRAORDINARY OFFER OF RAN-
SOM. THE MURDER OF HUASCAR.

WHETHER Pizarro had undertaken his march with any definite purpose of violence or attempted conquest, it is not easy to conjecture; but, his followers once placed in a position whence there could be no retreat, he resolved on a course the most audacious, perfidious, and perhaps hazardous that could be conceived. This was nothing less than to follow the daring example of Cortes in that conquest which doubtless seemed a model to all adventurers of his day-to seize the person of the inca, and thus at once to secure the obedience of his realms. He neglected nothing which could animate the courage, rapacity and fanaticism of his soldiers; and the chaplains of the expedition, well knowing the fearfully hazardous nature of the attempt, spent the whole night in "discipline" (self-flagellation, it would seem), in weeping, and in prayer "that God would award due success to his most sacred service, the exaltation of the faith, and the salvation of such a number of souls!"

Pizarro then made his force "a right Christian harangue," and all raised their voices in the solemn chant, "Arise, oh Lord, and judge thy cause!" "One might have supposed them," says Mr. Prescott, "a company of martyrs, about to lay down their lives in defence of

their faith, instead of a licentious band of adventurers, meditating one of the most atrocious acts of perfidy on the record of history!" These pious preliminaries adjusted, Pizarro posted them, sword in hand, in the numerous halls and passages opening into the square, with orders, at the discharge of a musket, to rush forth, and make an indiscriminate slaughter of the Peruvian nobles.

All day these fierce and cruel men, in a fever of impatience, remained on their arms-for the inca did not take up his march till noon, and the cumbrous pomp of the imperial progress delayed his journey so long that he proposed to defer his entrance until morning. But an artful message from Pizarro induced him to proceed, and, surrounded by an immense crowd of nobles, resplendent with golden ornaments, he approached the city. At the gate-way, as a token of good faith, he ordered all his attendants to lay aside their arms.

"A little before sunset, he entered the great square, borne on a splendid throne of massive gold, overshadowed with the plumes of the gay birds of the tropics. Before him went four hundred menials, clearing the way, and singing their national chants, 'which in our ears,' says one of the Spaniards, 'sounded like the Songs of Hell.' From his lofty position, the inca calmly surveyed the multitude of his followers, who formed around him in courtly order. When about six thousand of them had entered the square, he looked around inquiringly, and said, 'Where are the strangers?' At this word came forward the reverend Father Valverde, Pizarro's chaplain, with a crucifix in one hand and a breviary in the other, and made a long harangue, commencing with the Creation, and thence proceeding through the fall of Adam, the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, the appointment of St. Peter as God's vicar on earth, the apostolical succession of Popes, the bull in favor of Castile, and ending logically with a formal demand that the inca should submit his spir itual guidance to the Pope, and his temporal allegiance to the king of Spain. All this was duly translated by the interpreter, Felipillo, who, by way of expounding the doctrine of the Trinity, explained to his royal auditor that 'The Christians had Three Gods and One God, making Four in all.'

"To the which words,' says a bystander, 'and much besides that the Reverend Father said, he remained silent without returning a reply. He then said he would see what God had commanded, as he was told, in the book; so he took the book and opened it, and looked it over, examining the form and arrangement.' He next held