Early plans or views of Cusco are given in Ramusio, vol. iii. p. 412 (see ante, p. 554); in Münster’s Cosmographia, 1572 and 1598; in Braun and Hogenberg’s Civitates orbis terrarum; in De Bry, part vi., and in Herrera (1728), vol. iii. p. 161. There is a large woodcut map of Cusco, in Ant. du Pinet’s Plantz, Pourtraitz et Descriptions de plusieurs Villes, etc., Lyons, 1564.
Vander Aa published a view at Leyden, and another is in Rycaut’s translation of Garcilasso de la Vega, p. 12. Accounts of the modern town are given by Markham, Squier, and others, and there is a view of it in Tour du Monde, 1863, p. 265.—Ed.]
The judicial murder of Tupac Amaru was part of a settled policy. Toledo intended to crush out all remains of reverence and loyalty for the ancient family among the people. He confiscated the property of the Yncas, deprived them of most of the privileges they had hitherto been allowed to retain, and even banished the numerous half-caste children of Spaniards by Ynca princesses.
At the same time he labored diligently to formulate and establish a colonial policy and system of government on the ruins of the civilization of the Yncas.
The instructions of the kings of Spain, through their council of the Indies, were remarkable for beneficence and liberality in all that concerned the natives. Strict orders were given for their instruction and kind treatment, and special officers were appointed for their protection. But at the same time there were incessant demands for increased supplies of treasure from the mines. It was like the orders of the directors of the East India Company to Warren Hastings,—justice to the natives, but more money. The two orders were incompatible. In spite of their beneficent rules and good intentions, the Spanish kings must share the guilt of their colonial officers, as regards the treatment of the natives. It is right, however, that the names of those conquerors should be recorded who displayed feelings of sympathy and kindness for their Indian vassals. Lorenzo de Aldana, who took a prominent and important part in the civil wars, died at Arequipa in 1556, and left all his property to the Indians whom he had received in repartimiento, for the payment of their tribute in future years. Marcio Sierra de Leguizamo described the happy condition of the people when the Spaniards arrived, and in his will expressed deep contrition at having taken part in their destruction. Garcilasso de la Vega was ever kind and considerate to his Indian vassals. Cieza de Leon in his writings[1481] shows the warmest sympathy for the Ynca people. There were, however, too many of the first conquerors of a different stamp.
The viceroy Toledo wisely based his legislation on the system of the Yncas. His elaborate code, called the Libro de Tasas, was the text-book for all future viceroys. He fixed the amount of tribute to be paid by the Indians, wholly exempting all males under the age of eighteen, and over that of fifty. He recognized the positions of hereditary nobles or curacas, assigning them magisterial functions, and the duty of collecting the tribute and paying it to the Spanish corregidors. He enacted that one seventh part of the population of every village should be subject to the mita, or forced labor in mines or factories; at the same time fixing the distance they might be taken from their homes, and the payment they were to receive. It was the abuse of the mita system, and the habitual infraction of the rules established by Toledo, which caused all the subsequent misery and the depopulation of the country. Humane treatment of the people was incompatible with the annual despatch of vast treasure to Spain. Toledo also fixed the tenures of land, organized local government by corregidors, and specified the duties of all officials, in his voluminous code of ordinances.
In the days of this viceroy the Inquisition was introduced into Peru, but the natives were exempted from its penalties as catechumens. Heretical Europeans or Creoles were alone exposed to its terrible jurisdiction. The first auto da fé took place at Lima on November 19, 1573, when a crazy old hermit, suspected of Lutheranism, was burned. Another was celebrated with great pomp on the 13th of April, 1578, the viceroy and judges of the Audiencia being present in a covered stand on the great square of Lima. There were sixteen victims to suffer various punishments, but none were put to death.
During the government of Toledo, in 1579, Sir Francis Drake appeared on the coast of Peru,[1482] and in the following year the viceroy despatched an important surveying expedition to the Straits of Magellan under Sarmiento. After a long and eventful period of office, extending over upwards of twelve years, Don Francisco de Toledo returned to Spain. He was coldly received by Philip II., who said that he had not been sent to Peru to kill kings, and dismissed him. He was a hard-hearted man, but a conscientious and able administrator, and a devoted public servant.
Don Martin Henriquez, second son of the Marquis of Alcanizes, was then viceroy of Mexico, whence he was removed to Peru as successor to Toledo. He entered Lima on the 28th of September, 1581. He worked assiduously to carry out the ordinances of his able predecessor in all branches of administration; but his career was cut short by death after holding office for eighteen months. He died on the 15th of March, 1583, and was buried in the church of San Francisco. In 1582 he had founded the college of San Martin, to be under the rule of Jesuits, and on the 15th of August of the same year the second council of Lima assembled under the presidency of the archbishop.