The conquest of Peru by Francis Pizarro, has been already recorded. Among the officers who assisted in the conquest, was Diego Almagro—a chosen friend and fit companion for the ruthless Pizarro. But the friendships of the wicked are easily set aside whenever self-interest operates. Pizarro wanted all the gold of Peru; and he persuaded Almagro to attempt the conquest of Chili.
The Spaniards had heard that Chili was a country rich in gold and silver; and Almagro, flattered with having such a field of wealth entirely to himself, was induced to undertake the conquest.
Filled with these sanguine expectations of great booty, he began his march for Chili near the end of the year 1535. He had an army composed of five hundred and seventy Spaniards and fifteen thousand Peruvians.
Two roads lead from Peru to Chili; one is by the sea-coast, and destitute of water or provisions; the other, for the distance of one hundred and twenty miles, passes over the Andes. This last Almagro took, for no other reason but because it was shortest, and he was impatient to reach his golden harvest.
But he paid dearly for his folly; his army, having been exposed to infinite fatigue and many conflicts with the adjoining savages, reached the Cordilleras just at the commencement of winter, destitute of food, and almost of clothing. In this season the snow falls almost continually, and completely covers the few paths that are passable in summer.
The soldiers, encouraged by their general, who had no idea of the dangers of the passage, arrived at the tops of the mountains, but could go no farther. One hundred and fifty Spaniards, and ten thousand Peruvians, there died by cold and hunger.
The whole army would have perished, had not Almagro resolutely pushed forward with a few horsemen and reached the plains of Copiapo, and then sent back provisions to the exhausted and dying soldiers. Those of the more robust constitutions were, by this means, saved.
The inhabitants of Copiapo, which is the first province in Chili, received these worn and hungry strangers with all the rites of friendly hospitality. The Peruvians had been long held in respect by the Chilians of that province; and the Spaniards, as incorporated with the soldiers of Peru, were welcomed by the Ulmen or governor of Copiapo.
He was probably a vain man, and wished to impress the Spaniards with a high idea of his wealth and power: we cannot otherwise account for the infatuation of his conduct. Had he been a wise man, he would have known that avarice is never satisfied—that to feed is only to increase it.
Be that as it may, he had, it seems, learned the prevailing passion of the Spaniards for gold, and he collected from his people a sum equal to 500,000 ducats, and presented them to Almagro. One would think such a rich present deserved to be gratefully remembered.