Of his authority, lest
he should appear to overstep the bounds of his commission. Frequently,
when sitting in the meeting-houses where the gold and silver was assessed
for the royal fifth, he would rise from his chair to pick up the small
pieces which started from the scissars; observing that if the hands failed
on such occasions, a loyal subject ought to use his mouth to serve the
king. As these two great men resembled each other in many things during
their lives, so in their deaths they were alike unfortunate: the president
being put to death by the brother of the marquis, and the marquis slain by
the son of the president.
The marquis was exceedingly anxious for the improvement of the country,
giving every encouragement to the cultivation of the soil, and the
establishment of colonies of Spaniards in different places. He built for
himself a fine house or palace in the city of Lima, and had two sluices
constructed on the river to drive mills for its supply; employing much of
his leisure in superintending the workmen, and instructing the overseers
how he wished the works to be carried on. He was particularly diligent in
procuring the erection of a great and handsome church in Lima, and
monasteries for the Dominicans and the order of Mercy; both of whom he
endowed with ample estates in lands and Indians.
[1] The festival of St John the Evangelist is on the 5th May but the
assasination of the Marquis did not take place till the 26th June
1541. - E.
[2] In a former note, it has been mentioned, on the authority of Robertson,
that Francisco de Alcantara was the uncle of Pizarro by his mother;
yet Garcilasso calls him his brother, and perhaps he was so by a
different father. - E.
[3] The language of the French translator is here rather equivocal, but
distinctly bears the construction here given of the marquis being at
supper in the house of de Alcantara. - E.
[4] By Garcilasso, Velasquez is called the Chief Justice. - E.
[5] Garcilasso, quoting Zarate, says that the body was dragged to church
by some negroes; the French translator says _quelques miserables_. - E.
[6] According to Garcilasso, the marquis had only one son and one daughter,
Don Francisco being the son of his brother Gonzalo. Don Gonzalo, the
only son of the marquis, was born of a daughter of Atahualpa, not a
sister, named Angelina. Donna Francisca was the marquises daughter by
Ynes Huayllas Nusta, a daughter of the Inca Huana Capac, whose
Christian name was Donna Beatrix. - E.
* * * * *
CHAPTER VII.
CONTINUATION OF THE EARLY HISTORY OF PERU, AFTER THE DEATH OF FRANCISCO
PIZARRO, TO THE DEFEAT OF GONZALO PIZARRO, AND THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF
TRANQUILITY IN THE COUNTRY; WRITTEN BY AUGUSTINO ZARATE[1].
SECTION I.
