PLAN OF YNCA FORTRESS NEAR CUSCO.
(From Markham’s Royal Commentaries of the Yncas, vol. ii. p. 305.)
It was not long before the fame of the riches of Peru brought more conquerors to seek for a share of the spoils. In March, 1534, Pedro de Alvarado, one of the conquerors of Mexico, landed at Puerto Viejo, close to the equator, with five hundred Spaniards, half of whom were mounted. Among them was the noble cavalier Garcilasso de la Vega, father of the future historian. After suffering dreadful hardships in passing through the forests of the coast, the adventurers reached Riobamba, with a loss of one fourth of their number. Pizarro, leaving a garrison of ninety men under his brother Juan at Cusco, proceeded to the sea-coast, where he had an interview with Alvarado at Pachacamac. It was agreed that Alvarado should return to his government of Guatemala, while many of his surviving followers attached themselves to the fortunes of Pizarro.
The conqueror now resolved to fix the principal seat of his government within a short distance of some convenient seaport. He finally selected a site in the valley of the Rimac, six miles from the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Here Pizarro founded the city of Lima on the festival of Epiphany, the 6th of January, 1535. It was called “Ciudad de los Reyes” (the city of the kings) in honor of Charles V. and his mother Juana, and also in memory of the day. The city was laid out on a regular plan, which has been little altered down to the present time, with broad streets, at right angles, and a spacious square near the centre, one side of which was to be occupied by the cathedral and another by the palace. Pizarro appointed municipal officers, collected laborers, and with great energy pushed on the work of building.
BUILDING OF A TOWN.
[Fac-simile of a cut made to do duty in various Antwerp imprints on Peru of the latter half of the sixteenth century. It is copied in this case from folio eighteen (reverse) of De Wonderlijcke ende Warachtighe Historie (Zarate), published by Willem Silvius, 1573.—Ed.]
Hernando Pizarro, arriving with such welcome treasure, was very graciously received in Spain. Charles V. confirmed all his brother’s previous grants, and created him a marquis;[1478] while Almagro, with the title of marshal, was empowered to discover and occupy territory for two hundred leagues, beginning from the southern boundary of Pizarro’s government. Hernando himself was created a knight of Santiago, and was authorized to enlist recruits, and equip a fleet for his return to Peru. The return of Hernando was the signal for the breaking out of a feud between the old partners. Almagro and his friends declared that Cusco itself was to the south of the boundary assigned to the territory of Pizarro. The conqueror hurried from his work of building at Lima to Cusco, and made a solemn reconciliation with Almagro, by a written agreement dated June 12, 1535.
GABRIEL DE ROJAS.