Читать книгу Wealth of the World's Waste Places and Oceania - Jewett C. Gilson - Страница 22

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At this period of the world's progress, when so many marvellous inventions are taking place, one can scarcely realize the intense interest that was awakened by the first discoveries made in the New World. So great was the excitement that the most improbable stories were readily believed.

There were fountains of perpetual youth, Amazonian warriors, mighty giants, and rivers whose beds sparkled with gems and golden pebbles. The reports of every returning adventurer, whatever had been his luck, were tinged with the marvellous. In fact, a world of romance was now open to all and the opportunities to achieve fame and fortune were numberless. The first in the field stood the best chance to win the choicest prizes. Stories that outrivalled the Arabian Nights clouded the realm of reason.

So extraordinary were the accounts that many of the cities of Spain were depleted of their most energetic men. Every craft that could sail the seas was called into use, and the building of new vessels was hastened to completion in order to provide for the needs of adventurous prospectors and would-be explorers.

The conquest of the Aztec Empire, with its millions of treasure, by Cortez had already proved the valiancy of Spanish cavaliers. To add to this, the conquest of the Incas by Pizarro and his followers was regarded a miracle of divine interposition.

As a result, Spanish galleons laden with treasure from the conquered countries ploughed the seas, and untold wealth poured into private and royal coffers. Spanish ambition and greed for gold knew no bounds. Cunning and cruelty were employed by the Spaniards to secure their ends. No trials, no hardships were too great for them to endure. No perils daunted them. Western South America, ruled by viceroys for nearly three centuries, brought to Spain its greatest wealth. One-fifth of all the wealth and treasure acquired was reserved for the crown.

When Pizarro first visited the interior of Peru he found an empire well advanced in the arts of civilization. Its temples within and without were richly decorated with gold. There were thousands of miles of excellent roads, of which two were used for military purposes. One of these extended along the lowlands; the other traversed the grand plateau. These roads crossed ravines bridged with solid masonry and were pierced by tunnels cut through solid rock. The construction of these great roads was a more wonderful achievement than the building of the Egyptian pyramids.

The government was systematically organized and to a certain extent it was both paternal and communal. Agriculture was skilfully carried on by means of fertilization and irrigation.

The sun was the chief deity and object of worship of its people. Their most beautifully adorned and renowned sanctuary was the Temple of the Sun at Cuzco. Besides this sacred edifice there were several hundred inferior temples and places of worship scattered through the empire, all plentifully ornamented with gold and silver. Every Inca ruler was regarded as a descendant of the sun and therefore a sacred person.

According to the popular belief, gold consisted of tears wept by the sun and was therefore a sacred metal suitable for beautifying the palaces of the Incas and temples of worship. Not only were the edifices themselves richly adorned with this precious metal, but the sacred vessels and many of the articles of furniture were made of the same material. Silver, also, was much used, but was not considered sacred. So great was the amount of the precious metals used that each royal palace and temple was a veritable mine.

From 1520 to 1525 reports of a rich empire at the south were circulated among the adventurers congregated at Panama. At length they were confirmed in a great measure by travellers who had voyaged southward along the coast. Francisco Pizarro, a restless spirit who had been associated with Balboa and others in discovery and exploration, determining to test the truth of these reports, made several voyages south.

Finally, he landed on the shores of Peru with an army of followers who numbered less than two hundred. He met with but little opposition from the natives while marching toward the interior, and although he plundered some of the places through which he passed, the people received him with marks of friendship.

In some instances towns of several thousand population were deserted on the approach of the Spaniards, so great was the terror inspired by the white men, especially by those on horseback. At first it was the policy of the invaders to treat the natives with kindness in order to accomplish their purpose, namely, to conquer the Peruvian Empire in the same manner that Cortez had conquered the Aztecs. They were accompanied by two of the natives who previously had been taken to Spain and taught the Spanish language. By this means the Spaniards were able to communicate with the people.

Learning that the Inca ruler, Atahuallpa, was encamped with his army among the mountains, Pizarro sent an embassy to request a meeting with him. It was agreed that they meet at Caxamalca, a strongly fortified city among the sierras. On arriving at the city, the Spaniards found it evacuated. Soon after taking up their quarters there, Atahuallpa arrived and established his camp a short distance outside the city.

Pizarro at once sent word to Atahuallpa to come into the city and sup with him, but asked that, in order to show his faith in the white men and his own good intentions, he should leave all weapons behind. After much persuasion Atahuallpa accepted the invitation and entered the city, with several thousand of his followers, unarmed.

When fairly within the enclosure, a priest approaching the Inca ruler made a harangue about Christianity and demanded that he should submit to the authority of the Spanish king.

"By what authority do you demand such submission?" replied the monarch with flashing eye.

"By this holy book which I hold in my hand," answered the priest.

Then snatching the volume from the hand of the priest, Atahuallpa scornfully threw it on the ground, saying, "What right have you in my country? I will call you and your companions to an account for the indignities heaped upon me."

Picking up the book, the priest forthwith went to Pizarro and reported the conduct of the Inca, saying, "It is useless to talk to this dog. At them at once; I absolve you."

Immediately Pizarro raised his handkerchief for the preconcerted signal, the firing of a gun. Thereupon his soldiers, infantry and cavalry, rushed from their places of concealment upon the defenceless Indians, slaughtering them unmercifully right and left.

The discharge of the arquebuses and cannon, with their smoke, and the charge of the cavalry paralyzed the unsuspecting natives, and the attack became a horrible massacre. Not until thousands of the Indians had been killed and the Inca ruler had been captured did darkness cause the Spaniards to desist from their bloody work. So sudden and terrible had been the onslaught that the haughty monarch himself seemed stunned by the effect.

Realizing the irresistible power of the white men with their wonderful weapons and horses, the natives gave up for a time all thoughts of resistance. In fact, they regarded the Spaniards as superior beings endowed with preternatural gifts.

When the ruler had been kept a prisoner several months, he desired to regain his freedom. By this time he realized the Spaniards' thirst for gold, and therefore promised to fill the room in which he was confined with it as high as he could reach, and twice to fill an adjoining room with silver, if they would release him.

Pizarro agreed to this proposal; Atahuallpa thereupon sent out messengers to all parts of his empire requesting that the metals in the shape of utensils and ornaments be collected from the royal palaces, temples, and elsewhere and brought to Caxamalca.

On account of the difficulty of transportation, since all the treasure had to be carried on the backs of the natives, many months elapsed before the collections could be made.

When fifteen and one-half million dollars' worth of gold and a large amount of silver had been delivered at Caxamalca, Pizarro excused the imprisoned ruler from further contributions. At this juncture of affairs Almagro, a co-partner in the Peruvian expedition, arrived on the scene with a strong reinforcement.

On learning of the immense amount of gold and silver collected, the followers of both leaders loudly clamored for its distribution among them, and, taking out the royal fifth part, the remainder was divided according to the rank and service rendered. Then came rumors of an uprising among the natives and of the collection of an army to drive out the invaders, but on investigation these reports were found to be false.

The question then uppermost in the minds of the Spanish leaders was the disposition of the royal prisoner. It was thought that, were he released according to promise, the natives might rally around him and demand the expulsion of the intruders. So it was decided to make charges against him and to have at least the form of a trial in order to give an appearance of justice to the proceedings.

Twelve charges were made against Atahuallpa, nearly all of which were far-fetched and absolutely false. He was found guilty and condemned to death by burning; but at the last moment, when he was chained to a stake and the torch was ready to be applied, the priest in attendance promised that the sentence should be commuted to the easier death by the garrote if he would renounce his idolatry and embrace Christianity. He assented to the proposal, and immediately the modified sentence was carried out. It is not necessary to add that the execution of the Peruvian monarch was the darkest stain on the pages of Spanish colonial history. From this time on the conduct of the Spanish invaders was marked by a most inhuman cruelty toward the natives.