Not
Being Able To Make Any Progress In This Country On Account Of The
Difficulty Of The Roads, He Had
To return; besides which his troops became
mutinous, chiefly at the instigation of one Mesa, who had been commissary
of
Artillery under Almagro, and was encouraged by the other soldiers of
Almagro who served on this expedition. On this, Candia arrested Mesa and
sent him to Ferdinand Pizarro with the evidences of his guilt. This
circumstance, combined with information of conspiracies in several other
places, which had for their object to free Almagro from prison and to give
him possession of Cuzco, satisfied Ferdinand Pizarro that the country
would never be in quiet while Almagro lived.
Ferdinand accordingly brought Almagro to trial, in which he was convicted
of giving occasion to all the preceding disorders, of which he was the
first and chief cause; having begun the war by several acts of hostilities;
having taken forcible possession of the city of Cuzco by his own private
authority, where he put several persons to death merely for opposing his
unlawful usurpation; and having marched in hostile array into the province
of Chincha, which incontestibly belonged to the province assigned to the
marquis. When sentence of death was pronounced, Almagro said every thing
he could think of to excite the compassion of Ferdinand Pizarro that he
might spare his life. He represented that the marquis in a great measure
owed his present greatness to him; as he had advanced the greatest
proportion of the original funds for the discovery of Peru. He desired
Ferdinand to recollect, that when he was a prisoner in his hands, he had
set him at liberty contrary to the representations of his officers, who
advised that he should be put to death: And that though he, Pizarro, might
have been ill treated while a prisoner, that had been done without his
orders or knowledge. He intreated him to consider his very advanced age,
which would soon bring him to the grave, without the disgrace of a public
punishment. Ferdinand expressed his astonishment that one of such great
courage should shew so much fear of death, which was now inevitable, and
desired him to submit to the will of God like a good Christian, and to
meet death with the courage of a gentleman and a man of honour. Almagro
replied, that be ought not to be surprised at seeing him afraid of death,
being a man and a sinner, since even Jesus Christ had evinced a fear to
die. All this however was of no avail, as Ferdinand caused him to be
beheaded.
After the execution of Almagro, Ferdinand Pizarro went to Collao, where he
punished Mesa for having excited mutiny among the troops of Candia; after
which he sent the three hundred men under the command of Peranzures to
reduce the country which had been assigned to Pedro de Candia. These
troops had to march by a most difficult and dangerous route among morasses
and uncultivated places, where they thought to have perished of famine.
Ferdinand remained in Collao, which he reduced.
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