The first part of his intended work was published at Seville in 1553; and the author died in about 1560. We may gather from his writings that he was humane and generous in his dealings with the Indians, indignant at the acts of cruelty and oppression which he was forced to witness, that he was in the habit of weighing the value of conflicting evidence in collecting his information,[19] and that fuller reliance may be placed on his statements, than upon those of almost any other writer of the period. It is very much to be regretted that so little is known of the life of this remarkable man, beyond what he incidentally tells us himself.[20]
The young author commences his first part with a dedication to Philip II, in which, while dwelling on the grandeur and importance of his subject, he modestly says that he, an unlearned soldier, has undertaken it, because others of more learning were too much occupied in the wars to write. He began to take notes because no one else was writing anything concerning what had occurred, and he reflected that “time destroys the memory of events, in such sort that soon there is no knowledge of what has passed.” In his prologue he gives a full and detailed account of the four parts of his Chronicle, only the first of which has reached us. They were to contain respectively the geography, the early history, the conquest, and the civil wars of Peru. “The first part,” he says, “treats of the division of the provinces of Peru, as well towards the sea as inland, with the longitudes and latitudes. It contains a description of the provinces; an account of the new cities founded by the Spaniards, with the names of the founders, and the time when they were founded; an account of the ancient rites and customs of the native Indians, and other strange things very different from those of our country, which are worthy of note.” It is this part, the only one that was ever printed, which is now placed, for the first time in a translated form, in the hands of Members of the Hakluyt Society.
The work opens with a description of Panama; which is followed by a very accurate notice of all the anchorages and headlands along the west coast of South America, from that port to the southern part of Chile. Cieza de Leon seems to have taken much pains in collecting accurate information for the use of future navigators. “I have myself,” he says, “been in most of the ports and rivers which I have now described, and I have taken much trouble to ascertain the correctness of what is here written, having communicated with the dexterous and expert pilots who know the navigation of these ports, and who took the altitudes in my presence. I have taken no little trouble to ascertain the truth, and I have examined the new charts made by the pilots who discovered this sea.” He appears also to have collected reports from mariners who had sailed through the straits of Magellan, but they were lost, together with other papers and journals, which were stolen in the confusion consequent on the battle of Xaquixaguana.[21] The sailing directions of Cieza de Leon for the west coast of South America are among the earliest attempts of the kind. Information of the same sort is given in Dampier’s voyages; and these were the rude forerunners of the complete works of Admiral Fitz Roy, and other modern surveyors.
Having given the reader a clear idea of the coast of the great newly discovered empire of the Yncas, Cieza de Leon lands him in the gulf of Darien, and conducts him up the valley of the Cauca to Popayan.[22] This portion of his narrative is the more important, because no other writer has since given so complete an account of the Cauca valley. Cieza de Leon is still the best authority concerning this region, notwithstanding that more than three hundred years have elapsed since he wrote. It is true that Restrepo, in the beginning of this century, published a valuable memoir on Antioquia; and that such travellers as Cochrane, Mollien, and Holton have written accounts of Cali and Cartago, in the upper part of the valley of Cauca; but our author still stands alone in having given a full description of the whole length of this little-known valley. He not only describes the manners and customs of the aboriginal tribes, which all appear to have been addicted to cannibalism, but adds many very interesting pieces of information, such as a notice of the different kinds of bees, of the various methods of obtaining salt, and of the prevailing forms of animal and vegetable life.
From Popayan the reader is conveyed by this very pleasant companion along the great plateau of the Andes, by Pasto, Quito, and Riobamba, to Tumebamba, and Loxa.[23] Here, again, as indeed throughout the work, the nature of the country, the distances, the manners and customs of the natives, the climate, the staple products, and the animals to be met with, are all carefully noted. There are also descriptions of several ruined edifices, and a glowing account of the great road of the Yncas.[24] In this section, too, there is an excellent general sketch of the principal geographical features of Peru,[25] and some information respecting the origin and rise of the Ynca dynasty.[26]
The chapters relating to the emeralds of Manta, the giants on point Santa Elena, the island of Puna, and the city of Guayaquil, are derived from hearsay, as our author does not appear to have visited that part of the country; but he was careful to sift his authorities, and to weigh their value,[27] and in this, as in many other respects, he is far superior to most of the writers of his time. His chapter on the equator[28] shows that questions of geographical science attracted the attention of the young soldier; while his careful notes in connection with the absence of rain on the Peruvian coast,[29] are evidence that he was not unmindful of the natural phenomena of the strange land which he was exploring.
After traversing the valley of the Cauca, and the Cordillera of the Andes from Popayan to Loxa, Cieza de Leon descends to the Peruvian coast, and describes the sandy deserts, and every intervening fertile valley from Tumbez to Tarapaca.[30] Here again we have interesting accounts of the manners and customs of the natives, especially of the method of burying their dead; descriptions of ruins, of works of irrigation, and of the great coast road of the Yncas; and notices of the fruits, trees, and animals.
Having completed a survey of the coast valleys, Cieza de Leon returns to the Cordillera of the Andes, and describes the country from Caxamarca, by way of Huanuco, Xauxa, Guamanga, Andahuaylas, and Abancay, to Cuzco,[31] the capital of the empire of the Yncas. After devoting two chapters to the city of Cuzco,[32] he then gives an account of the lovely valleys and interminable tropical forests to the eastward;[33] and completes his extensive travels by a description of the cold region of the Collao, the shores of lake Titicaca, the imposing ruins of Tiahuanaco, and the silver-yielding provinces of Plata and Potosi. The interest of the latter part of this remarkable work is enhanced by the discussion of such points in physical geography as the drainage of lake Titicaca, and by information respecting the silver mines, the animals of the llama tribe found in Peru, the vegetable products of the country, and the progress of the Indians in the arts of building, weaving, dying, and working in silver, stone, and clay.
Such is a brief sketch of the contents of Cieza de Leon’s chronicle. Bearing evident marks of honesty of purpose, and skill in the selection of materials, on the part of its author, it is at the same time written by one who examined almost every part of the empire of the Yncas, within a few years of the conquest. It is, therefore, a work of the greatest possible value to the student of early South American history, and has always stood very high as an authority, in the estimation of modern historians. Among these, Mr. Prescott bears strong testimony to the merits of Cieza de Leon.[34]
The first part of the Chronicle of Peru, by Pedro de Cieza de Leon, was published at Seville (folio) by Martin Clement in 1553. A second edition, in duodecimo, was printed at Antwerp by the famous publisher Jean Steeltz, in 1554; and a third edition, translated into Italian by Augustino di Gravalis, appeared at Rome, from the press of Valerius Dorigius (octavo) in 1555. A copy of the first Seville edition, which is in black letter, fetched £10 at Lord Stuart de Rothesay’s sale a few years ago.