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smashed to pieces many fine emeralds by hitting them with hammers. It was observed that the good father refrained from testing his own gems in this manner, and the later, he went around picking up the discarded fragments left behind by the soldiers. Pizarro had all the gold and valuables taken from the village heaped in a pile, and informed his men that hence forth all treasure had to be declared and added to the general stock. In future, any man who violated this law would be instantly put to death. This was a wise procedure in the common interest, as it prevented personal squabbles which inevitably led to wide spread disorder and unruliness. Then, having deducted the “king’s fifth’, he distributed the shares, giving to each man his due according to his rank. The shares were duly recorded by a notary, and the 3 ships sent back to Panama loaded with the large amount of gold. The valuable cargo represented proof of success, moreover, it represented a very tangible bait. The sight of so much gold would have the desired effect of con- vincing the colonists to join him. With that comforting thought in mind, Pizarro bold- WwW wax” X 1 ge ab miiles \ y led his tiny force further (etuctto~y south along the coast. The i. ‘ resumed march brought with it Low — miseries a lot worse that those raat |g hitherto experienced. As they a Fruescaivre avache advanced, on the road which 7T_tndian Reservation gave only dangerous footing — ia for man and beast, blinding a Anti + topes OSE sand storms assailed them. On the scorching desert the troops clad in metal armour and thick cotton jackets suffered agonies from the heat of the glaring sun. Many fell by the wayside from sunstroke, some never to rise to their feet again. To add to their miseries, a strange epi- demic broke out, and spread rapidly through the ranks, killing several of the men. The exhausted cavalcade eventually reached the shore opposite the island of Puna in the Gulf of Guayaquil. Pizarro decided to set up his command post on the island while he waited out the rainy season, at the end of which time, he hoped reinforce- ments would have arrived from Panama. The island was near Tumbes, perfectly located for his planned spring offensive. The Puna natives seemed friendly enough, but the Tumbes Indians, who had long been part of his train, were against accepting their hospitality. Pizarro appeared to ignore their warnings, and crossed over to Puna, where he and his men were warmly received. Soon afterwards, he learned that the Puna chiefs were holding a secret meeting to plan an assault on his camp, so he and his men surrounded the meeting place, seized the chieftains, and handed them over to his Tumbes Indians, who instantly butchered them. Maddened by this atrocity, the Punas rose in arms, but were driven off with terri- ble losses by the Spaniards who calmly stood their ground and met the massed charge of the Indians on their long pikes. Those who were not impaled by the long pikes were cut to pieces by the sharp swords of the Spaniards, or were mowed down by volleys of musketry. Before the confused Indians had time to recover from these murderous volleys, Hernando, the elder brother of Pizarro, led a thundering cavalry charge in how he has seen plates of gold and silver hanging like tapes- tries from the temple walls, and how he had gone into the gar- den of the adjacent convent, and seen imitations of flowers, fruits, vegetables, trees and bushes, and even blades of grass, all made of pure gold and silver! The Spaniards had been in raptures over the richness of the spoils that would soon belong to them. But Pizarro dared not violate the temple and other sacred buildings, as his men urged him to do, his tiny force being too weak to deal with the multitude of Indians, whose duty it was to guard the valuables, He knew, however, that the golden treasures would stay where they were until there arose a more favourable occasion for seizing them. And now, on his retum, with his strength considerably increased, he intended to mount an immediate offensive, and capture those riches. He would send them back to Panama. The sight of so much trea- sure, he believed, would settle the doubts of the wavering colonists, who preferred to wait and watch events, in the com- parative safety and comfort of their homes, while he and his men went forth to blaze a trail, soon they would be competing with each other to serve under his banner. After 13 days of frustrating delay, fighting strong head- winds and adverse currents, he brought his small squadron in to the Bay of St. Matthew, and disembarked his force, having decided to continue south by land, marching along the level region between the Cordilleras and the ocean, while his 3 ships maintained a parallel course, keeping at a handy dis- tance from the shore. The Spaniards advanced ae \ "7 gradually, through perilous = Reservation ACT jungles of gigantic growth, b 1 Paso constantly intersected by > PB Ciudad Juarez streams which the winter rains =, See MEXICO aN " had turned into wildly rushing y é < rivers. Pizarro, who was fifty Ss : five years old, declined a horse a for himself, and marched on foot, urging and coaxing his men onward, always ready to give a helping hand where it was needed. It was a dreadful march through thick jungles, snake infested swamps, and bar- ren plains. Day after day, they struggled on. The men sweated and swore, and many rued the hour that they had signed on with Pizarro. But when at length they came to an Indian Village all their troubles were quickly forgotten. All they could think about was gold. As they rushed the village, killing as they went, most of the inhabitants fled in terror to the jun- gle, leaving behind their foodstuffs and possessions. The fresh food was very welcome to the half starved Spaniards. But even more welcome was the gold and precious gems they found in the abandoned native dwellings. Pizarro himself acquired an emerald the size of pigeon’s egg. Many more pre~ cious gems as large as the one secured by Pizarro fell into the hands of his loutish followers. In fact there was so many of the precious stones they could not believe they were real. One of the Dominican brothers, Fray Reginaldo de Padraza, encouraged the soldiers to test the gems, to prove that they were genuine, by striking them with a hammer. The true emerald, he assured them, would withstand the blow, whereas the glass copy would be shattered. These ignorant soldiers V7 30 wniles , ye MEXICO” ; : thes ‘| d=: han aes aun (eS Artesia Alamogordo bs Font ae WL i wats Reservation XK a El Past Paso, ie Ciudad ale Nyy = oN % TEXAS 44¢NEXUS Continued on page 67 OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 1992