In
New Spain, Indeed, They Had Certain Pictures, Which Answered In Some
Measure Instead Of Books And Writings; But In
Peru, they only used certain
strings of different colours with several knots, by means of which and the
distances between
Them, they were able to express some things in a very
confused and uncertain manner, as shall be explained in the course of this
history.
So much of the following history as relates to the discovery of the
country, has been derived from the information of Rodrigo Lozan, an
inhabitant of Truxillo in Peru, and from others who were witnesses of and
actors in the transactions which I have detailed.
[1] Even the orthography of the name of Pizarro is handed down to us with
some variety. In the work of Garcilasso de la Vega it is always spelt
Picarro: Besides which, the Inca Garcilasso, in his almost perpetual
quotations of our author Zarate, always gives the name Carate; the _c_,
or cerilla _c_, being equivalent in Spanish to the _z_ in the other
languages of Europe. - E.
SECTION I.
_Of the discovery of Peru, with some account of the country and its
inhabitants_.
The city of Panama is a port on the South Sea, in that province of the
continent of America which is called Golden Castille. In the year 1524,
three inhabitants of that city entered into an association for the purpose
of discovering the western coast of the continent by the South Sea, in
that direction which has been since named Peru. These were Don Francisco
Pizarro of Truxillo, Don Diego de Almagro of Malagon, and Hernando de
Luque, an ecclesiastic. No one knew the family or origin of Almagro,
though some said that he had been found at a church door[1]. These men,
being among the richest of the colonists of Panama, proposed to themselves
to enrich and aggrandize themselves by means of discovering new countries,
and to do important service to the emperor, Don Carlos V. by extending his
dominions. Having received permission from Pedro Arias de Avila[2], who
then governed that country, Francisco Pizarro fitted out a vessel with
considerable difficulty, in which he embarked with 114 men. About fifty
leagues from Panama, he discovered a small and poor district, named _Peru_,
from which that name has been since improperly extended to all the country
afterwards discovered along that coast to the south for more than 1200
leagues. Beyond that Peru, he discovered another district, to which the
Spaniards gave the name of _El Pueblo quemado_, or the _Burnt People_. The
Indians of that country made war upon him with so much obstinacy, and
killed so many of his men, that he was constrained to retreat to
_Chinchama_ or Chuchama, not far from Panama.
In the mean time, Almagro fitted out another vessel at Panama, in which he
embarked with 70 men, and went along the coast in search of Pizarro as far
as the river San Juan, a hundred leagues from Panama. Not finding him
there, Almagro returned along the coast to the _Pueblo quemado_, where,
from certain indications of Pizarro having been there, he landed with his
men. The Indians, puffed up with the remembrance of the victory they had
gained over Pizarro, attacked Almagro with great courage, and did him
considerable injury; and one day they even penetrated the entrenchment he
had thrown up for defence, through some negligence in the guards, and put
the Spaniards to flight, who were forced to retreat with loss to their
vessel and put to sea, on which occasion Almagro lost an eye. Following
the shore on the way back towards Panama, Almagro found Pizarro at
Chinchama[3]. Pizarro was much pleased by the junction of Almagro, as by
means of his men, and some additional soldiers they procured in Chinchama,
they had now a force of two hundred Spaniards. They accordingly
recommenced the expedition, endeavouring to sail down the coast to the
southwards in two vessels and three large canoes. In this navigation they
suffered great fatigue from contrary winds and currents, and were much
incommoded when they attempted to land in any of the numerous small rivers
which fall into the South Sea, as they all swarmed at their mouths with
large lizards, or alligators, called caymans by the natives. These animals,
are ordinarily from twenty to twenty-five feet long, and kill either men
or beasts when in the water. They come out of the water to lay their eggs,
which they bury in great numbers in the sand, leaving them to be hatched
by the heat of the sun. These caymans have a strong resemblance to the
crocodiles of the river Nile. The Spaniards suffered much from hunger in
this voyage, as they could find nothing fit to eat along this coast except
the fruit of a tree called mangles, which grew in great abundance
everywhere along the shore. These trees are tall and straight, and have a
very hard wood; but as they grow on the shore, their roots being drenched
in sea water, their fruit is salt and bitter; yet necessity obliged the
Spaniards to subsist on them, along with such fish as they could find,
particularly crabs; as on the whole of that coast no maize was grown by
the natives. From the currents along this coast, which always set strongly
to the north, they were obliged to make their way by dint of constant
rowing; always harassed by the Indians, who assailed them with loud cries,
calling them banished men, and _hairy faces_, who were formed from the
spray of the sea, and wandered about without cultivating the earth, like
outcasts and vagabonds.
Having lost several of his men through famine and by the incessant attacks
of the Indians, it was agreed that Almagro should return to Panama for
recruits and provisions. Having procured twenty-four, they advanced with
these and the remains of their original force to a country named
_Catamez_[4], considerably beyond the river of St Juan, a tolerably
peopled country, in which they found plenty of provisions.
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