To attempt the conquest of a great empire with an army of less than 200 men seems preposterous indeed, but the bold, one would say insane, Pizarro, had he not succeeded, at length set out with 180 men, 67 of whom were cavalry. However, these last were equivalent to a mighty host; for horses, never before seen in this country, struck terror to the stoutest hearts. It was a hard march across the desert, then up over the great coast range of the Andes down to the longitudinal valley in which Cajamarca is situated. On the way they were met by messengers bearing royal gifts, with an invitation to visit the powerful ruler of this immense empire. Through narrow defiles where a large force might easily have been annihilated, the little army was permitted to march in safety. Upwards in bitter cold and rarefied air they toiled to a height of 12,000 feet or more until they looked down upon a beautiful valley, a prosperous city, and the camp of a great army.
With bold faces if quaking hearts they descended, November 15, 1532, to the city which they found deserted: that better accommodations, it was said, might be furnished to the distinguished guests. The next day, accepting the invitation of Pizarro that he should dine with him, Atahuallpa with a large retinue, unarmed, came in royal state to the Plaza. In place of the courteous greeting from Pizarro which was here due, a priest, Father Valverde, came forward. Having expounded the chief doctrines of the Christian religion he thereupon demanded the Inca’s allegiance to the Pope and to the Emperor Charles V. Upon Atahuallpa’s indignant rejection of this piece of bold and insolent presumption, Valverde called on Pizarro to make an assault. The signal was given, guns boomed, the cavalry charged upon the defenseless throng. Instead of the hospitality that had been proffered there was a scene of terrible slaughter. The Inca was seized and imprisoned, after which a ransom was arranged. The collection for this purpose of more than $15,000,000 worth of gold dishes, plate, and other objects was followed by a second act of perfidy. Accused of various crimes, Atahuallpa, instead of being released, was condemned to be burned at the stake; or if he would consent to embrace Christianity to have the easier death of strangulation. This he chose. Thus the courtly monarch of this highly civilized empire, one of the first on that continent to be baptized (revolting mockery) into the Christian faith, was ignominiously put to death after the most shameless betrayal of the rites of hospitality, the most brutal treachery, to be found on the pages of history.
Thus was accomplished the conquest of Peru. The Inca executed, his humble subjects made but little and sporadic resistance. Cuzco, the capital city, was visited and stripped of many of its treasures. For the conciliation of the populace, Manco, a younger brother of Atahuallpa, was crowned; but the real power was placed in the hands of one of Pizarro’s brothers.
Francisco then descended to the coast and, on January 6, 1535, founded on the banks of the Rimac, a capital which he named City of the Kings in honor of the Epiphany, although Lima, a corruption of Rimac, is the title by which it has been called. Such a beginning was naturally followed by a period of dissensions and murders, which lasted twenty years. For nearly three centuries a Spanish Viceroy ruled over the country, until in 1824, at Ayacucho on the highlands of Peru, the last battle of independence was fought, the whole of South America was liberated from the domination of Spain, and the realms of the Inca became free to develop a new civilization.
Panama to Salaverry. For three days after leaving Panama the ship is out of sight of land, which is again approached near the northern extremity of Peru. This coast is unlike that of any other country in the world, to the uninitiated presenting a series of surprises. The first is the climate, which in the Torrid Zone one naturally expects to be hot, at least at sea level. On the East Coast of South America this is the case, but not on the West after reaching Peru. Panama, Colombia, and Ecuador have ordinary tropical weather, continuous heat with plenty of rain and luxuriant vegetation. Peru is in striking contrast. From Paita, 5° south of the equator, throughout the journey of 1200 miles along the coast, all within the tropics, the weather is so cool at least half of the year that exercise is a pleasure, while wraps and steamer rugs are frequently desirable. Of this moderate temperature the chief cause is the Antarctic or Humboldt current, which flows along the coast from the South Polar regions until, at Point Pariña, the western extremity of South America, it meets a hot stream and both turn westward across the Pacific. The proximity to the sea of the lofty range of the Andes also contributes to the coolness.
Another surprising phenomenon is the barren shore. The entire coast for 2000 miles, from Tumbes, to Coquimbo in Chile, is a genuine desert, save where, at considerable intervals, the fifty-eight streams in Peru, coming down from the mountains, afford opportunity for irrigation. The lack of verdure in Peru is not occasioned by the character of the soil; it arises simply from the absence of rain.
Paita. The fourth morning after leaving Panama the ship is likely to be at anchor in the harbor of Paita, having passed in the night the more northern Peruvian shore. Otherwise one might from a distance perceive near Point Pariña the pipes and derricks of many oil wells. For the petroleum industry is important in Peru. In this Department, Piura, the oil regions cover an area as large as Holland. It is said that the petroleum is superior to that of the United States, having little paraffine and no odor; that the kerosene gives a better light, and that the crude oil may be employed as fuel after merely standing a few days in the open air. For the last ten years the oil has been thus used in the locomotives of the Oroya Railway; it is now similarly employed on the Peruvian steamers. There is a great field for the development of the industry in this and other districts of the country.
After several days on board ship most of the passengers improve the opportunity of going ashore. The regular fare as at other ports is forty centavos (twenty cents) each way for each person. Paita is a curious place, a small village, yet the third port in Peru in the amount of exports and imports, serving a considerable district including the city of Piura, with which it is connected by a railroad of standard gauge. The walls of the houses are of bamboo, set perpendicularly, some overspread with plaster often partly peeled off, others destitute of covering. Climbing the hills back of the town you will perceive a genuine desert, in the distance fringed by low mountains. “Paita,” said the Captain on my first voyage in 1903, “is the dryest place on earth.” From its appearance I was not inclined to dispute the fact, but having heard that it rains there once in seven years and in Iquique not at all I inquired how this might be. “That is easy,” replied the Captain. “In Iquique there are heavy dews, here nothing, and now it has skipped one shower and it is almost fourteen years since it has rained.” This was no idle jest. The drought continued until February, 1910, when there was a heavy shower, the first in nineteen years. There are no wells, hence all water is brought by rail and sparingly used; therefore there is no green. The town of Piura, on the contrary, 60 miles distant, is in an irrigated valley where the finest cotton is a staple production and where new irrigation canals are increasing the possibilities for agriculture. A few miles farther is Catacaos, where half of the 20,000 inhabitants are engaged in making the 260,000 Panama hats here annually produced. While Ecuador is the chief seat of the industry, hats may be purchased at Paita to better advantage than at Guayaquil. The natives who come on board ship bring various articles for sale, paroquets, mocking-birds, fruit, pottery, ancient and modern, as well as the Panama hats. These of good quality may be purchased at from $2.00 to $12 or $15 gold, the latter of the Monte Christo quality, all at about one-fourth of the price commonly asked for a similar article in New York. The best are rarely found in the United States at any price.
Some day Paita with its excellent harbor will become a port of great importance. A railroad 400 miles long is planned and has been surveyed to Melendez on the Marañon, the larger of the two rivers (the other, the Ucayali) uniting to form the Amazon. Crossing the Andes in one of its lowest sections, where a short tunnel at 5000 feet altitude will serve instead of the long ones, above 10,000 and 15,000 feet, through the mountains farther south, this road will bring the rubber country in the neighborhood of Iquitos, the chief port on the upper Amazon, within two weeks of New York, instead of the four or five weeks by way of Pará. On this route, too, are said to be millions of tons of iron, as well as coal and other minerals.
On leaving Paita, if not before, the tourist will be likely to feel the need of heavier underwear. The air in winter is damp and chilly. The temperature in my cabin was 60°. At this season clouds generally conceal the sun, making a gloomy sea, and the little patches of blue sky are small.