Pizarro Revisits Cuzco. — Hernando Returns To Castile. — His long Imprisonment. — Commissioner Sent To Peru. — Hostilities With The Inca. — Pizarro’s Active Administration. — Gonzalo Pizarro.

1539–1540.

On the departure of his brother in pursuit of Almagro, the Marquess Francisco Pizarro, as we have seen, returned to Lima. There he anxiously awaited the result of the campaign; and on receiving the welcome tidings of the victory of Las Salinas, he instantly made preparations for his march to Cuzco. At Xauxa, however, he was long detained by the distracted state of the country, and still longer, as it would seem, by a reluctance to enter the Peruvian capital while the trial of Almagro was pending.

He was met at Xauxa by the marshal’s son Diego, who had been sent to the coast by Hernando Pizarro. The young man was filled with the most gloomy apprehensions respecting his father’s fate, and he besought the governor not to allow his brother to do him any violence. Pizarro, who received Diego with much apparent kindness, bade him take heart, as no harm should come to his father; 1 adding, that he trusted their ancient friendship would soon be renewed. The youth, comforted by these assurances, took his way to Lima, where, by Pizarro’s orders, he was received into his house, and treated as a son.

1 “I dixo, que no tuviese ninguna pena, porque no consentiria, que su Padre fuese muerto.” Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 6, cap. 3.

The same assurances respecting the marshal’s safety were given by the governor to Bishop Valverde, and some of the principal cavaliers who interested themselves in behalf of the prisoner. 2 Still Pizarro delayed his march to the capital; and when he resumed it, he had advanced no farther than the Rio de Abancay when he received tidings of the death of his rival. He appeared greatly shocked by the intelligence, his whole frame was agitated, and he remained for some time with his eyes bent on the ground, showing signs of strong emotion. 3

2 “Que lo haria asi como lo decia, i que su de seo no era otro, sino ver el Reino en paz; i que en lo que tocaba al Adelantado, perdiese cuidado, que bolveria a tener el antigua amistad con el.” Ibid., dec. 6, lib. 4, cap. 9.]

3 Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.

He even shed many tears, derramo muchas lagrimas, according to Herrera, who evidently gives him small credit for them. Ibid., dec. 6, lib. 6, cap. 7. — Conf. lib 5 cap. 1.]

Such is the account given by his friends. A more probable version of the matter represents him to have been perfectly aware of the state of things at Cuzco. When the trial was concluded, it is said he received a message from Hernando, inquiring what was to be done with the prisoner. He answered in a few words: — “Deal with him so that he shall give us no more trouble.” 4 It is also stated that Hernando, afterwards, when laboring under the obloquy caused by Almagro’s death, shielded himself under instructions affirmed to have been received from the governor. 5 It is quite certain, that, during his long residence at Xauxa, the latter was in constant communication with Cuzco; and that had he, as Valverde repeatedly urged him, 6 quickened his march to that capital, he might easily have prevented the consummation of the tragedy. As commander-inchief, Almagro’s fate was in his hands; and, whatever his own partisans may affirm of his innocence, the impartial judgment of history must hold him equally accountable with Hernando for the death of his associate.

4 “Respondio, que hiciese de manera, que el Adelantado no los pusiese en mas alborotos.” (Ibid., dec. 6, lib. 6, cap. 7.) “De todo esto,” says Espinall, “fue sabidor el dicho Governador Pizarro a lo que mi juicio i el de otros que en ello quisieron mirar alcanzo.” Carta de Espinall, Ms.]

5 Ibid., dec. 6, lib. 5, cap. 1.

Herrera’s testimony is little short of that of a contemporary, since it was derived, he tells us, from the correspondence of the Conquerors, and the accounts given him by their own sons. Lib. 6, cap. 7.]

6 Carta de Valverde al Emperador, Ms.]

Neither did his subsequent conduct show any remorse for these proceedings. He entered Cuzco, says one who was present there to witness it, amidst the flourish of clarions and trumpets, at the head of his martial cavalcade, and dressed in the rich suit presented him by Cortes, with the proud bearing and joyous mien of a conqueror. 7 When Diego de Alvarado applied to him for the government of the southern provinces, in the name of the young Almagro, whom his father, as we have seen, had consigned to his protection, Pizarro answered, that “the marshal, by his rebellion, had forfeited all claims to the government.” And, when he was still further urged by the cavalier, he bluntly broke off the conversation by declaring that “his own territory covered all on this side of Flanders”! 8 — intimating, no doubt, by this magnificent vaunt, that he would endure no rival on this side of the water.

7 “En este medio tiempo vino a la dicha cibdad del Cuzco el Gobernador D. Franco Pizarro, el qual entro con tronpetas i chirimias vestido con ropa de martas que fue e luto con que entro.” Carta de Espinall, Ms.]

8 Carta de Espinall, Ms.

“Mui asperamente le respondio el Governador, diciendo, que su Governacion no tenia Termino, i que llegaba hasta Flandes.” Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 6, cap. 7.]

In the same spirit, he had recently sent to supersede Benalcazar, the conqueror of Quito, who, he was informed, aspired to an independent government. Pizarro’s emissary had orders to send the offending captain to Lima; but Benalcazar, after pushing his victorious career far into the north, had returned to Castile to solicit his guerdon from the emperor.

To the complaints of the injured natives, who invoked his protection, he showed himself strangely insensible, while the followers of Almagro he treated with undisguised contempt. The estates of the leaders were confiscated, and transferred without ceremony to his own partisans. Hernando had made attempts to conciliate some of the opposite faction by acts of liberality, but they had refused to accept any thing from the man whose hands were stained with the blood of their commander. 9 The governor held to them no such encouragement; and many were reduced to such abject poverty, that, too proud to expose their wretchedness to the eyes of their conquerors, they withdrew from the city, and sought a retreat among the neighbouring mountains. 10

9 “Avia querido hazer amigos de los principales de Chile, y ofrecidoles daria rrepartimientos y no lo avian aceptado ni querido.” Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.]

10 “Viendolas oy en dia, muertos de ambre, fechos pedazos e adeudados, andando por los montes desesperados por no parecer ante gentes, porque no tienen otra cosa que se vestir sino ropa de los Indios, ni dineros con que lo comprar” Carta de Espinall, Ms.]

For his own brothers he provided by such ample repartimientos, as excited the murmurs of his adherents. He appointed Gonzalo to the command of a strong force destined to act against the natives of Charcas, a hardy people occupying the territory assigned by the Crown to Almagro. Gonzalo met with a sturdy resistance, but, after some severe fighting, succeeded in reducing the province to obedience. He was recompensed, together with Hernando, who aided him in the conquest, by a large grant in the neighbourhood of Porco, the productive mines of which had been partially wrought under the Incas. The territory, thus situated, embraced part of those silver hills of Potosi which have since supplied Europe with such stores of the precious metals. Hernando comprehended the capabilities of the ground, and he began working the mines on a more extensive scale than that hitherto adopted, though it does not appear that any attempt was then made to penetrate the rich crust of Potosi. 11 A few years more were to elapse before the Spaniards were to bring to light the silver quarries that lay hidden in the bosom of its mountains. 12

11 “Con la quietud,” writes Hernando Pizarro to the emperor, “questa tierra agora tiene han descubierto i descubren cada dia los vecinos muchas minas ricas de oro i plata, de que los quintos i rentas reales de V. M. cada dia se le ofrecen i hacer casa a todo el Mundo.” Carta al Emperador, Ms., de Puerto Viejo, 6 de Julii, 1539.]

12 Carta de Carbajal al Emperador, Ms., del Cuzco, 3 de Nov. 1539. — Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. — Montesinos, Annales, Ms., ano 1539.

The story is well known of the manner in which the mines of Potosi were discovered by an Indian, who pulled a bush out of the ground to the fibres of which a quantity of silver globules was attached. The mine was not registered till 1545. The account is given by Acosta, lib. 4, cap. 6.

It was now the great business of Hernando to collect a sufficient quantity of treasure to take with him to Castile. Nearly a year had elapsed since Almagro’s death; and it was full time that he should return and present himself at court, where Diego de Alvarado and other friends of the marshal, who had long since left Peru, were industriously maintaining the claims of the younger Almagro, as well as demanding redress for the wrongs done to his father. But Hernando looked confidently to his gold to dispel the accusations against him.

Before his departure, he counselled his brother to beware of the “men of Chili,” as Almagro’s followers were called; desperate men, who would stick at nothing, he said, for revenge. He besought the governor not to allow them to consort together in any number within fifty miles of his person; if he did, it would be fatal to him. And he concluded by recommending a strong body-guard; “for I,” he added, “shall not be here to watch over you.” But the governor laughed at the idle fears, as he termed them, of his brother, bidding the latter take no thought of him, “as every hair in the heads of Almagro’s followers was a guaranty for his safety.” 13 He did not know the character of his enemies so well as Hernando.

13 Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 6, cap. 10. — Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 3, cap. 12. — Gomara, Hist de las Ind., cap. 142.

“No consienta vuestra senoria que se junten diez juntos en cinquenta leguas alrrededor de adonde vuestra senoria estuviere, porque si los dexa juntar le an de matar. Si a Vuestra Senoria matan, yo negociare mal y de vuestra senoria no quedara memoria. Estas palabras dixo Hernando Picarro altas que todos le oymos. Y abracando al marquez se partio y se fue.” Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.]

The latter soon after embarked at Lima in the summer of 1539. He did not take the route of Panama, for he had heard that it was the intention of the authorities there to detain him. He made a circuitous passage, therefore, by way of Mexico, landed in the Bay of Tecoantepec, and was making his way across the narrow strip that divides the great oceans, when he was arrested and taken to the capital. But the Viceroy Mendoza did not consider that he had a right to detain him, and he was suffered to embark at Vera Cruz, and to proceed on his voyage. Still he did not deem it safe to trust himself in Spain without further advices. He accordingly put in at one of the Azores, where he remained until he could communicate with home. He had some powerful friends at court, and by them he was encouraged to present himself before the emperor. He took their advice, and, shortly after, reached the Spanish coast in safety. 14

14 Carta de Hernando Pizarro al Emperador, Ms. — Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 6, cap. 10. — Montesinos, Annales, Ms., ano 1539.

The Court was at Valladolid; but Hernando, who made his entrance into that city, with great pomp and a display of his Indian riches, met with a reception colder than he had anticipated. 15 For this he was mainly indebted to Diego de Alvarado, who was then residing there, and who, as a cavalier of honorable standing, and of high connections, had considerable influence. He had formerly, as we have seen, by his timely interposition, more than once saved the life of Hernando; and he had consented to receive a pecuniary obligation from him to a large amount. But all were now forgotten in the recollection of the wrong done to his commander; and, true to the trust reposed in him by that chief in his dying hour, he had come to Spain to vindicate the claims of the young Almagro.

15 Gomara, Hist. de las Ind., cap. 143.]

But although coldly received at first, Hernando’s presence, and his own version of the dispute with Almagro, aided by the golden arguments which he dealt with no stinted hand, checked the current of indignation, and the opinion of his judges seemed for a time suspended. Alvarado, a cavalier more accustomed to the prompt and decisive action of a camp than to the tortuous intrigues of a court, chafed at the delay, and challenged Hernando to settle their quarrel by single combat. But his prudent adversary had no desire to leave the issue to such an ordeal; and the affair was speedily terminated by the death of Alvarado himself, which happened five days after the challenge. An event so opportune naturally suggested the suspicion of poison. 16

16 “Pero todo lo atajo la repentina muerte de Diego de Alvarado, que sucedio luego en cinco dias, no sin sospecha de veneno.” Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 6, lib. 8, cap. 9.]

But his accusations had not wholly fallen to the ground; and Hernando Pizarro had carried measures with too high a hand, and too grossly outraged public sentiment, to be permitted to escape. He received no formal sentence, but he was imprisoned in the strong fortress of Medina del Campo, where he was allowed to remain for twenty years, when in 1560, after a generation had nearly passed away, and time had, in some measure, thrown its softening veil over the past, he was suffered to regain his liberty. 17 But he came forth an aged man, bent down with infirmities and broken in spirit, — an object of pity, rather than indignation. Rarely has retributive justice been meted out in fuller measure to offenders so high in authority, — most rarely in Castile. 18

17 This date is established by Quintana, from a legal process instituted by Hernando’s grandson, in vindication of the title of Marquess, in the year 1625.]

18 Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, Ms. — Pizarro y Orellana, Varones Ilustres p 341. — Montesinos, Annales, M., ano 1539. — Gomara, Hist. de las Ind., cap. 142.]

Yet Hernando bore this long imprisonment with an equanimity which, had it been founded on principle, might command our respect. He saw brothers and kindred, all on whom he leaned for support cut off one after another; his fortune, in part, confiscated, while he was involved in expensive litigation for the remainder; 19 his fame blighted, his career closed in an untimely hour, himself an exile in the heart of his own country; — yet he bore it all with the constancy of a courageous spirit. Though very old when released, he still survived several years, and continued to the extraordinary age of a hundred. 20 He lived long enough to see friends, rivals, and foes all called away to their account before him.

19 Caro de Torres gives a royal cedula in reference to the working of the silver mines of Porco, still owned by Hernando Pizarro, in 1555; and another document of nearly the same date, noticing his receipt of ten thousand ducats by the fleet from Peru. (Historia de las Ordenes Militares Madrid, 1629, p. 144.) Hernando’s grandson was created by Philip IV. Marquess of the Conquest, Marques de la Conquista, with a liberal pension from government. Pizarro y Orellana, Varones Ilustres, p. 342, and Discurso, p. 72.]

20 “Multos da, Jupiter, annos”, the greatest boon, in Pizarro y Orellana’s opinion, that Heaven can confer! “Diole Dios, por todo, el premio mayor desta vida, pues fue tan larga, que excedio de cien anos.” (Varones Ilustres, p. 342) According to the same somewhat partial authority, Hernando died, as he had lived, in the odor of sanctity! “Viviendo aprender a morir, y saber morir, quando llego la muerte.

Hernando Pizarro was in many respects a remarkable character. He was the eldest of the brothers, to whom he was related only by the father’s side, for he was born in wedlock, of honorable parentage on both sides of his house. In his earl............