_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.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 522 of 796
Words from 144561 to 144845
of 221091
