For This Purpose He Caused A Number Of Flats Or Rafts To Be
Constructed After The Manner Of The Peruvians, Formerly Mentioned, To
Transport His Men And Horses To The Island, Which Is Above Twenty Miles
From The River Of Tumbez.
The Spaniards were in imminent danger in this
passage, as the Indians who guided their floats had resolved to
Cut the
cords by which their planks were held together, on purpose to drown the
men and horses; but as Pizarro had some suspicion or intimation of their
secret intentions, he ordered all his people to be on their guard,
constantly sword in hand, and to keep a watchful eye on the Indians. On
arriving in the island, the inhabitants received them courteously and
requested that there might be peace between them; yet it was soon known
that they had concealed their warriors in ambush, with the intention of
massacring the Spaniards during the night. When Pizarro was informed of
this treachery, he attacked and defeated the Indians, and took the
principal cacique of the island; and next morning made himself master of
the enemies camp, which was defended by a considerable body of warriors.
Learning that another body of the islanders had attacked the flat vessels
or rafts in which they had come over, Pizarro and his brothers went in all
haste to assist the Spanish guard which had the care of them, and drove
away the enemy with considerable slaughter. In these engagements two or
three of the Spaniards were killed, and several wounded, among whom was
Gonzalo Pizarro, who received a dangerous hurt on the knee.
Soon after this action, Hernando de Soto arrived from Nicaragua with a
considerable reinforcement of foot and horse. But finding it difficult to
subdue the islanders effectually, as they kept their canoes concealed
among the mangrove trees which grow in the water, Pizarro resolved to
return to Tumbez; more especially as the air of Puna is unwholesome from
its extreme heat, and the marshy nature of its shores. For this reason he
divided all the gold which had been collected in the island, and abandoned
the place. In this island of Puna, the Spaniards found above six hundred
prisoners, men and women, belonging to the district of Tumbez, among whom
was one of the principal nobles of that place. On the 16th May 1532,
Pizarro set all these people at liberty, and supplied them with barks or
floats to carry them home to Tumbez; sending likewise in one of these
barks along with the liberated Indians, three Spaniards to announce his
own speedy arrival. The Indians of Tumbez repaid this great favour with
the blackest ingratitude, as immediately on their arrival, they sacrificed
these three Spaniards to their abominable idols. Hernando de Soto made a
narrow escape from meeting with the same fate: He was embarked on one of
these floats, with a single servant, along with some of the Indians, and
had already entered the river of Tumbez, when he was seen by Diego de
Aguero and Roderick Lozan, who had already landed, and who made him stop
the float and land beside them; otherwise, if he had been carried up to
Tumbez, he would certainly have been put to death.
From the foregoing treachery of the inhabitants of Tumbez, it may readily
be supposed that they were by no means disposed to furnish barks for the
disembarkation of the Spanish troops and horses; so that on the first
evening, only the Governor Don Francisco Pizarro, with his brothers
Ferdinand and Juan, the bishop Don Vincente de Valverde, captain de Soto,
and the other two Spaniards already mentioned, Aguero and Lozan, were able
to land. These gentlemen had to pass the whole night on horseback entirely
wet, as the sea was very rough, and they had no Indians to guide their
bark, which the Spaniards did not know how to manage, so that it overset
while they were endeavouring to land. In the morning, Ferdinand Pizarro
remained on the shore to direct the landing of the troops, while the
governor and the others who had landed rode more than two leagues into the
country without being able to find a single Indian, as all the natives had
armed themselves and retired to the small hills in the neighbourhood. On
returning towards the coast, he met the captains Mina and Salcedo, who had
rode to meet him with several of the cavalry which had disembarked. He
returned with them to Tumbez, where he encamped with all the troops he was
able to collect.
Soon afterwards, Captain Benalcazar arrived with the rest of the troops
from the island of Puna, where he had been obliged to remain till the
return of the vessels, as there was not enough of shipping to contain the
whole at once. While he waited for the vessels, he had to defend himself
from continual attacks of the islanders; but now rejoined the governor
with very little loss. Pizarro remained above twenty days at Tumbez,
during which time he used every endeavour to persuade the cacique to enter
into terms of peace, by sending him repeated messages to that effect, but
all to no purpose. On the contrary, the natives did every injury in their
power to our people, and especially to the servants and others who went
out into the country in search of provisions; while the Spaniards were
unable to retaliate, as the Indians kept always on the opposite side of
the river. The governor caused three barks or floats to be brought up
secretly from the coast, in which he crossed the river during the night,
with his brothers Juan and Gonzalo, and the Captains Benalcazar and Soto,
with above fifty horsemen. With these he made a very fatiguing march
before day, as the road was very difficult and uneven, and full of knolls
overgrown with brambles and bushes. About day break he came unexpectedly
to the Indian camp, which he immediately attacked and carried, putting
many of the natives to the sword; and for fifteen days he pursued them
into all their haunts, making a cruel war upon them with fire and sword,
in revenge for the three Spaniards whom they had sacrificed.
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