Y. Modern History and Characteristics. — About the year 151G, and ten years before the death of Huayna Capac, the first white inan had landed on the western shores of South America ; but it was not till the year 1532 that Pizarro, at the head of a small band of Spanish adventurers, actuallj' invaded Peru. On his death-bed the great Inca expressed a wish that the kingdom of Quito should pass to Atahualpa, one of his sons by a princess of Quito whom he had received among his concubines, and that all his other territories should fall to his son Huascar, the heir to the crown, and who, according to the custom of the Incas, should have inherited all its dependencies. Between these two princes quarrels, resulting in war, arose ; and when Pizarro entered Peru he found the country oc- cupied by two rival factions, a circumstance of which he took full advantage. Atahualpa had completely defeated the forces of his brother, had taken Huascar prisoner, and was now stationed at Caxamalca, on the eastern side of the Andes, whither, with a force of 177 men, of whom 27 were cavalry, the dauntless Spanish leader, in September, 1532, set out to meet him. Ata- hualpa was captured bj' the Spaniards, and subsequent- ly put to death. Shortly after the execution of the Inca at Caxamalca, the adventurers set out for Cuzco. Their strength had recently been increased by rein- forcements, and they now numbered nearly 500 men, of whom about a third were cavalry. They entered the Peruvian capital Nov. 15, 1533, having in the course of their progress towards the city of the Incas had many sharp and sometimes serious encounters with the In-
PERU
991
PERU
dians, ki all of which, however, their armor, artillery, and cavalry gave them the advantage. At Cuzco they obtained a vast amount of gold, the one object for which the conquest of Peru was undertaken. As at Caxamalca, the articles of gold were for the most part meltad down into ingots, and divided among the band. Their sudden wealth, however, did many of them little good, as it afforded them the means of gambling, and many of them, rich at ni-jlit, found themselves again psnniless adventurers in the morning. One cavalier, having obtained the splendid golden image of tlie Sun as his share of the booty, lost it in play in a single night. After stripping the palaces and temples of thsir treasures, Pizarro placed Manco, a son of the great Huayna Capac, on the throne of the Incas. Leaving a garrison in the capital, he then marched west to the sea-coast, with the intention of building a town, from which he could the more easily repel inva- sion from without, and which should be the future capital of the kingdom. Choosing the banks of the river Rimac, he founded, about six miles from its mouth, the Ciudad de los R yes, " City of the Kings." Subsoquentl}' its name was changed into Lima, the modified form of the name of the river on which it was placed. But the progress of a higher civilization thus begun was interrupted by an event which over- turned the plans of the general, and entailed the se- verest sufferings on many of his followers. The Inca Manco, insulted on every hand, and in the most con- temptuous manner, by the proud Castilian soldiers, effectad his escape, and headed a formidable rising of the natives. Gathering round Cuzco in immense numbers, the natives laid siege to the city, and set it on fire. An Indian force also invested Xauxa, and another detachment threatened Lima. The siege of Cuzco was maintained for five months, after which time the Peruvians were commanded by their Inca to retire to their farms, and cultivate the soil, that the country might be saved from famine. The advanta- ges, many though unimportant, which the Inca gained in the course of this siege were his last triumphs. He afterwards retired to the mountains, where he was massacred bj' a party of Spaniards. More formidable, however, to Pizarro than any rising of the natives was the quarrel between himsslf and Almagro, a sol- dier of generous disposition, but of fiery temper, who, after Pizarro, held the highest rank among the con- querors. The condition of the country was now in over}' sense deplorable. The natives, astonished not more b}' the appearance of cavahy than b}' the flash, the sound, and the deadlj' execution of artillerj', had succumbed to forces which they had no means of suc- cessfully encountering. Meantime the Almagro fac- tion had not died out with the death of its leader, and they still cherished schemes of vengeance against the Pizarros. It was resolved to assassinate the general as he returned from mass on Sundaj', June 20, 1541. Hearing of the conspirac)', but attaching little impor- tance to the information, Pizarro nevertheless deemed it prudent not to go to mass that day. His house was assaultad by the conspirators, who, murdering his ser- vants, broke in upon the great leader, overwhelmed him by numbers, and killed him. The son of Alma- gro then proclaimed himself governor, but was soon defeated in Ijattle, and put to death. In 1542 a coun- cil was called at Valladolid, at the instigation of the ecclesiastic Las Casas, who felt shocked and humiliated at thj excessas committed on the natives. The result of this council was that a code of laws was framed for Peru, according to one clause of wiiich the Indians who had be?n enslaved by the Spaniards were virtu- all.y declared free men. It was also enacted that the Indians were not to be forced to labor in unhealthy localities, and that in whatever cases they were de- sired to work they were to be fairl}^ paid. Tliese and similar clauses enraged the adventurers. Blasco Nu- n3z Vela, sent from Spain to enforce the new laws.