THE king of Spain instituted the office of historiographer of the Indies, and that post was held for upwards of half a century by the learned Antonio de Herrera, who died in 1625. All the official reports and correspondence were placed in his hands, and he had the use of a great deal of material which is now lost; so that he is indispensable as an authority.[1484] His great work, Historia General de las Indias Occidentales, covers the whole ground from 1492 to 1554, and is divided into eight decades, in strict chronological order. The history of the conquest of Peru and of the subsequent civil wars is recorded with reference to chronological order as bearing on events in other parts of the Indies, and not connectedly. The work first appeared in 1601 and 1615, in five folio volumes, and was republished in 1730. The English version by Stevens, in six octavo volumes (1725), is worthless. The episode relating to the descent of the river Amazon by Francisco de Orellana (Herrera, dec. vi. lib. ix.), was translated by Clements R. Markham, C. B., and printed for the Hakluyt Society in 1859 as a part of the volume called Expeditions into the Valley of the Amazons.
Francisco Lopez de Gomara was another compiler, who never personally visited Peru, and is best known for his history of the conquest of Mexico. His narrative of the conquest of Peru forms an important part of his work entitled Historia de las Indias. Although he was a contemporary, and had peculiarly good opportunities for obtaining trustworthy information, he was careless in his statements, and is an unsafe authority.[1485]
Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdés, born in 1478 of an old Asturian family, was an eye-witness of the events on the isthmus which directly led to the discovery of Peru. He went out with the governor Pedro Arias in 1513, and was at Panamá when Pizarro and Almagro were fitting out their first expedition. He afterwards resided for many years in Hispaniola, and at his death, in 1557, he was chronicler of the Indies, the predecessor of Herrera. He was devoted to historical composition, interspersing his narrative with anecdotes and personal reminiscences; but most of his works long remained in manuscript. His two chapters on the conquest of Peru cover the ground from the landing of Pizarro to the return of Almagro from Chili.[1486]
It is, however, a relief to escape from compilers, and to be able to read the narratives of the actual actors in the events they describe. The first adventurer who attempted to discover Peru was the adelantado Pascual de Andagoya, and he has recorded the story of his failures. Born of a good stock in the province of Alava, Pascual went out to Darien when very young, with the governor Pedro Arias, in 1514. After the failure of his first attempt he was in Panamá for some years, and in 1540 received the government of the country round the Rio San Juan, the scene of Pizarro’s early sufferings. Here he founded the town of Buenaventura; but having got into a dispute with Benalcazar respecting the boundaries of their jurisdictions, Andagoya returned to Spain, where he remained five years. He accompanied the president Gasca to Peru, and died at Cusco on the 18th of June, 1548. He had broken his leg, but was recovering, when fever supervened, which carried him off. Gasca reported that his death was mourned by all, because he was such a good man, and so zealous in the service of his country. The historian Oviedo, who knew him well in the early days of the Darien colony, speaks of Andagoya as a noble-minded and virtuous person. He was a man of some education; and his humane treatment of the Indians entitles his name to honorable mention. His interesting narrative long remained in manuscript at Seville, but it was at length published by Navarrete.[1487] An English translation,[1488] by Clements R. Markham, C. B., with notes and an introduction, was printed for the Hakluyt Society in 1865.[1489]
Francisco de Xeres, the secretary of Pizarro, wrote his account of the early days of the conquest of Peru on the spot, by order (March, 1533) of his master. He left Spain with Pizarro in January, 1530, returned to Seville with the first instalment of gold from Caxamarca in July, 1534; and his narrative, which embraces the period between these dates, was printed at Seville in the same year.[1490] This edition and that of 1547, printed somewhat carelessly at Salamanca, are extremely rare.[1491] The third and best-known edition was published at Madrid in 1749 in the Barcia Collection, Historiadores primitivos de las Indias. Italian editions appeared in 1535,[1492] and in 1556 in Ramusio;[1493] and a French version was published at Paris by M. Ternaux-Compans in 1837.[1494] An English translation, with notes and an introduction by Clements R. Markham, C. B., was printed for the Hakluyt Society in 1872. There is a freshness and reality in the story told by Xeres, owing to his having been an eye-witness of all the events he describes, which the more elaborate accounts of compilers cannot impart. Xeres has increased the value of his book by inserting the narrative of Miguel Astete, who accompanied Hernando Pizarro on his expedition to Pachacamac.
TITLE OF XERES. VENICE, 1535.