The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1923-09-19
THE CONQUEST OF PERU
A. D. 1882

Pizarro was reared for a s%wineherd /;
long years of soldering made him no
more than a captain. and when at the
age Of fifty he turned explorer, he dis
covered nothing but failure.
For seven years he and his followers
suffered on trails beset by snakes and
alligators, in feverish jungles haunt
ed by man-eating sayages, to be thrown
at last battered, ragged and starving
on the Isle Of Hell. Then a ship Of
fered them passage, but old Pizarro
drew q line In the dust with his sword.
Friends" said he, "and comrades. on
that side are toll, hunger, nakedness.
the d~renching storm, desertion and
death on this side ease and pleasure.
There lies Peru with its riches; here
Panama and its poverty. Choose each
man, what best becomes a brave Cas-
lillian. For my part, l go to the south"
Thirteen Of all his people crossed
the line with Pizarro, the rest desert
Ing him, and he was seven months
marooned on his desert isle in the Pa
cific. When the explorers partners
at last were able TO send a ship from
Panama, it brought him orders TO re-
turn, a failure. He did not return but
took the ship to the southwark. his
guide the great white Andes, along a
coast no longer Of horrible wamps
but now more populous, more civilized
than Spain. by hundreds of miles on
end of well-tilled farms. fair villages
and rich cities where the temples We're
sheathed with plates of pure red gold.
AS IN the Mexico of eight years ago,
the Spaniards were welcomed as su-
perhuman, their ship, their battered
m and their muskets accounted as
possessions of strayed gods.
They dined in the palaces of court
ly mobiles, rested in gardens curiously
enriched with foliage and flowers of
beaten gold and silver. and found ma
tive gentlemen eager to join them in
their ship as guests. So with a ship
load Of wonders to illustrate this dis
covery they went back to Panama. and
Pizarro returned home to seek in Spain
the help Of Charles Y. There, at the
einperor's court, he met Cortes, who
came to lay the wealth of conquered
Mexico at his sovereign's feet, and
Charles, with a lively sense Of more
to come, despatched Pfzarro to over
throw Peru.
Between the eastern and the west
ern Andes lies a series of lofty plains
and valleys, in those days irrigated
and farmed by an immense civilized
population. A highway, in length LOO
miles, threaded the settlements togeth-
er. The whole empire was ruled by
a foreign dynasty, called the Incas,
a race of fighting despots by whom
the people had been more or less en-
shaved. The last Inca had left the
northern Kingdom of Quito to his
younger son, the ferocious Atahuallpa.
and the southern realm of Cuzeo to
his heir. the gentle Huascar.
These brothers fought until Atahuall-
pa subdued the southern kingdom, i'm
prisoned Huascar, and reigned so far
as he knew over the whole world. 1t
was then that from outside the world
came one hundred sixty-eight men Of
an unknown race possessed of ships.
horses, rmo and muskets-things
very marvellous, and useful to have.
The emperor invited these strangers
to cross the Andes. intending, when
they came, TO take such blessings as
the Sun might send him. The city Of
fH,-o--1T1a T~.a afa,-ol - s-- rl-.TC
and the buildings enclosing the mar
ket place were furnished for the re
ception Of the SpaBiards.
The emperor's main army was seven
hundred miles to the southwark, but
the white men were appalled, by the
enormous host attending him In his
camp. where he had halted to battle
at the hot springs, three miles from
their new quarters. The Peruvian
watch fires on the mountain sides were
as thick as the stars Of heaven.
The sun was setting next day when
a procession entered the Plaza Of Cax-
amalca, a retinue of six thousand
guards, mobiles, eourtiers, dignitaries,
surrounding the litter on which was
placed the gently swaying golden
throne Of the young emperor.
OF all the Spaniards, only one came
forward, a priest who, through an In
terpreter. preached, explaining from
the commencement of the world the
story Of his faith. Saint Peters SOW
e~reignty, the papal Office, and Pizarro's
mission TO receive the homage of this
barbarian. The emperor listened.
amused at first, then bored. at last af-
fronted, throNin ing down the book he
was asked TO kiss. On that a scarf
waved and the Spaniards swept from
their ambush, blocking the exits. charg-
ing as a wolf-pack on a sheepfold. rid
ing the people dOwn while they
slaughtered. So great was the pres
sure that a wall of the courtyard fell,
releasing thousands whose panic flight
stampeded the Incas' army. But the
mobiles had rallied about their SOW
ereign. unarmed but with desperate
valor cllnging to the legs Of the horses
and breaking the charge Of cavalry.
They threw themselves in the way Of
the fusillades, their bodies piled in
mounds, their blood flooding the pave
ment. Then, as the bearers fell. the
golden throne was overturned, and the
D ,.IkzLo-