tion led him to grasp every thing for himself, and to disregard the rights of Almagro; yet as the views of Luque did not interfere with his own, he obtained for him the expected appointment. When Pizarro arrived at Panama he found Almagro so exasperated at his conduct, that he was exerting all his influence to embarrass and frustrate his plans, and at the same time to fit out an expedition himself, on his own account. Alarmed at the consequences of an opposition from one who had been connected with him in the enterprise, Pizarro exerted himself to effect a reconciliation; and, by offering to relinquish to Almagro the office of adelantado, a reunion among the confederates was established. The confederates now exerted themselves to fit out an armament for the conquest of the country: but with all their united efforts, aided by the alluring accounts of the country, three small vessels, with one hundred and eight men, was the extent of the force which they could raise, and with this Pizarro did not hesitate to invade an extensive country, filled with people. He landed in the bay of St. Matthew, and advanced toward the south. In the province of Coaque they plundered the inhabitants of gold and silver to the amount of forty thousand dollars, a large portion of which they remitted in one of their vessels to Almagro, at Panama, to enable him to procure recruits; and despatched another vessel to Nicaragua. This display of the riches of the country, and the wealth they had already acquired, had a most happy influence on the cause, and procured several small re-enforcements. Pizarro continued his march along the coast, and met with little resistance from the inhabitants, who, surprised and terrified at the sudden appearance of such formidable invaders, either deserted their habitations and fled, or sued for peace and favour. He proceeded to Tumbez, and from thence to the river Piura, near the mouth of which, at a favourable site, he planted the first colony in Peru, which he called St. Michael.

Peru, at the time it was invaded by Pizarro, was a powerful and extensive empire, being six hundred leagues in length on the coast of the Pacific Ocean, and extending east to the ridge of the Andes, stretching from one extremity of that vast chain to the other. This extensive country, like other parts of America, was originally inhabited by numerous independent tribes of savages, who were in a rude and unimproved state of nature, until, according to their own traditions, two extraordinary personages suddenly appeared on the banks of the lake Titiaca, who founded the Peruvian empire. Their names were Manco Capac, and Mama Ocollo, his consort. They were dressed in white cotton garments, were of majestic form and appearance, and claimed to be children of the Sun, and to have been sent by the Beneficent

Parent of the human race, who looked down on the miseries of his creatures with pity, to instruct, and impart to them the blessings of peace and civilization.

The dignity and sanctity of these extraordinary individuals, and their knowledge of some of the arts of life, which appeared wonderful to the simple natives, induced many of the wandering tribes to follow them, and submit to their authority.—They proceeded to Cusco, and commenced the erection of houses, and thus gradually laid the foundation of a city.-Manco Capac instructed the men in agriculture and the useful arts, and introduced the regular laws of society, whilst Mama Ocollo taught the women to spin and weave, and other domestic employments. The institutions and laws of Manco established private property, and the duties of the social relations, and provided for the security of private rights, and the peace of the community. The powers and duties of persons in authority were divided, graduated, and defined, and exercised with such uniformity and steadiness, as gave the community the appearance, if not the character, of a well regulated state. At first the territory of Manco Capac extended but about eight leagues around Cusco, his capital; but it was enlarged by him and his successors, from time to time, until it comprised one of the most extensive empires in the world.-He and his successors were styled Incas, or lords, and were not only obeyed as sovereigns, but revered as divinities; and according to the principles of legitimacy, as recognised in more civilized nations, the blood was to be kept pure, and all intermarriages with the royal and divine race of the Incas were prohibited, under the severest penalties.

When the Spaniards first visited Peru the throne was filled by Huanan Capac, the twelfth monarch from the founder of the empire and dynasty. He was a prince equally eminent for his pacific virtues, and military talents. He conquered the kingdom of Quito in the year 1526, and annexed it to his dominions, and married the daughter of the vanquished monarch, by whom he had a son, called Atahualpa. At his death he appointed this son his successor in the kingdom of Quito, and left the rest of his dominions to Huascar, his eldest son, and whose mother was of the royal Inca blood. The latter, feeling the pride of legitimacy, disallowed the title of his half-brother, as he was not of the entire royal blood, and a civil war ensued. This war was prevailing, and had filled the empire with dissensions, when Pizarro landed in the Bay of St. Michael.

Atahualpa, having the command of the army which his father had led into Quito, took the field with great advantage over his rival; defeated and took him prisoner, and confined him in the tower at Cusco. Pizarro obtained information of these disorders

with great satisfaction, from messengers sent to him by Huascar, to solicit his aid against Atahualpa, whom he represented as a rebel, who had usurped the sovereignty which belonged to himself. The importance of this intelligence being perceived by Pizarro, he immediately put his troops in motion, and without waiting for a re-enforcement, marched into the interior of the country, leaving a small garrison at St. Michael. With little opposition, he penetrated to Caxamalca, the headquarters of Atahualpa, who, with astonishing simplicity, received him in the most friendly manner. Pizarro, according to the prevailing artifice of his countrymen, pretended that he had come as the ambassador of a very powerful monarch beyond the waters, and that the object of his mission was to assist Atahualpa against his enemics, who wished to deprive him of his crown and dominions. Pizarro took possession of a large court, on one side of which was a palace of the Incas, and on the other a temple of the Sun, which was the divinity of the country. The whole being surrounded by a wall of earth, it afforded a safe and advantageous position for his troops. Pizarro immediately despatched his brother to the camp of Atahualpa to reassure him of his amicable intentions, and to invite him to an interview. The example of Cortes, strengthened by his own experience in the country, determined him to attempt the same bold measure that had been found so successful in Mexico. The interview was conducted with great ceremony and dignity on the part of the Peruvians: the Inca sitting on a throne covered with gold, and adorned with plumes and precious stones, was carried on the shoulders of four of the principal officers of his household, and was preceded by four hundred men in uniform, and followed by the officers of government, civil and military, accompanied by an immense retinue; and his whole army was drawn out on the plain, amounting to more than thirty thousand men.

As the Inca arrived near the Spanish quarters, the chaplain of the expedition addressed him, and explained to him in Spanish, which was interpreted, the mysteries of Christianity, the power of the pope, and the grant made by his holiness of all the territories and countries of the new world, to the king of Spain, and concluded by requiring the Inca to acknowledge the Christian religion, the authority of the pope, and submit to the king of Castile as his lawful sovereign; and in case he should be so unreasonable and impious as to refuse to obey this demand, he denounced war against him in the name of his sovereign. Astonished and indignant at this incomprehensible and presumptuous harangue, Atahualpa replied that he was master of his own dominions, and held them as an inheritance from his ancestors, and that he could not perceive how a priest should pretend to dispose of countries which did not belong to him, and of which he must have been ignorant

even of the existance; he said he would not renounce the religion of his ancestors, nor relinquish the adoration of the Sun, the immortal divinity of his country, to worship the God of the Spaniards, who was subject to death like mortals. He wished to be informed where the priest had learnt such wonderful things: "In this book," said Father Valverde, reaching to him his breviary. The Inca took it in his hand, and turning over the leaves and raising it to his ear, observed, "this book is silent; it tells me nothing," and threw it on the ground in a contemptuous manner. The monk, turning toward his countrymen in a rage, exclaimed, "To arms, Christians! to arms! the word of God is insulted; avenge this profanation on those impious dogs." Pizarro, who had previously made the necessary arrangements for an attack, waited with impatience during this long conference, being anxious to seize his victim, and the rich spoils that lay before his eyes. His orders were instantly given: the martial music struck up, the cannon roared, the musketry was discharged, the horse gallopped fiercely to the charge, and the infantry pressed impetuously forward, sword in hand. Astonished at such infamous treachery, and surprised and terrified at the suddenness of the attack, and the noise and destructive effects of firearms, the Peruvians were filled with consternation, and fled with the utmost precipitation. Although the nobility flocked around the Inca in crowds, zealous to defend him, he was seized by Pizarro, who, at the head of a chosen band, selected for the purpose, had advanced directly toward him. He was dragged from his throne to the ground, and carried to the Spanish quarters. The fugitives, half frightened out of their senses, not knowing whether their enemies were of the human race, or beings of a superior nature, sent to punish them for their crimes, were pursued in every direction, and immense numbers of them slaughtered, although they did not make the least resistance. More than four thousand

Peruvians were slain, and not a single Spaniard, nor one wounded, except Pizarro himself, slightly, on the hand, by one of his own men. The plunder was of immense value, and fairly turned the heads of such a band of desperate and indigent adventurers; they spent the night in that extravagant joy which a change of fortune so sudden and important was calculated to produce.

The wretched monarch, removed in an hour from a throne to a prison, almost sunk under a calamity so sudden and so tremendous: had an earthquake shaken the Andes from its base, and swallowed up half his dominions, the calamity could not have appeared more sudden or terrible. Discovering, however, that an insatiable thirst for gold was the predominant passion of his oppressors, and apparently their only object in invading his country, he offered, as a ransom for his liberty, to fill the apartment in VOL. I.

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which he was confined, which was twenty-two feet in length, and sixteen in breadth, as high as he could reach, with gold. Pizarro did not hesitate to accept this tempting offer, and a line was drawn round the walls, to fix more definitely the stipulated height of the chamber. Transported with the idea of obtaining his liberty, Atahualpa sent to Cusco, Quito, and other places, where gold had been collected for adorning the temples and palaces of the Incas, informing his subjects of the terms of his ransom, and ordering all the gold to be conveyed to Caxamalca for that

purpose.

The Peruvians, accustomed to obey implicitly the mandates of their sovereign, flocked in, from all parts of the empire, loaded with the precious metals, so that in a short period the greater part of the stipulated quantity was produced, and Atahualpa assured Pizarro that the residue would arrive as soon as there was sufficient time to convey it from the remote provinces. But such piles of gold so inflamed the avarice of a needy soldiery, that they could no longer be restrained, and Pizarro was obliged to order the whole melted down, and divided among his followers. The captive monarch, having performed his part of the contract, now demanded to be set at liberty; but the perfidious Spanish leader had no such intention; his only object being to secure the plunder; and he even meditated taking the life of his credulous captive, at the very time the latter was employed in amassing the treasures for his ransom. Atahualpa was subjected to a mock trial, and condemned to be burnt: his last moments were embittered by friar Valverde, who, although he had used his influence to procure his condemnation, and sanctioned the sentence with his own signature, attempted to console him in his awful situation, and to convert him to Christianity. The only argument that had any influence on the trembling victim was that of mitigating his punishment; and on the promise of being strangled, instead of consumed by a slow fire, he consented to be baptized, by the hand of one of his murderers, who exercised the holy functions of priest.

After the death of Atahualpa, Pizarro invested one of his sons with the ensigns of royalty; Manco Capac, a brother of Huascar, was also declared sovereign at Cusco, and the governors of many of the provinces assumed independent authority, so that the empire was torn to pieces by intestine dissensions.

The intelligence of the immense wealth acquired by Pizarro and his followers, which those who had returned had conveyed to Panama, Nicaragua and Guatemala, confirmed by a display of the treasures, produced such an electric effect, that it was with difficulty the governors of those places could restrain their people from abandoning their possessions and embarking for Peru, as