/Nexus - 0211 - New Times Magazine/pages/0038/image.png)
Page Content (OCR)
I TREASURE OF THE SAN by Ted Smith 38-NEXUS ANDREAS Pizarro gave strict orders to his men that the natives were not to be molested. And as the Peruvians everywhere met the Spaniards with kindness and generosity, and piled them with gifts, there was no excuse fo~ any man to infringe his orders. Strangely, for once, the Spaniards were on their best behaviour, seeming to realise that much of their future success depended upon the continuing goodwill of the very people they had come to rob and destroy. Pizarro was not remiss in letting the natives know what had brought him to their land. He had it promulgated wherever he went that he had come in the name of the "Holy Vicar of God and of the sovereign of Spain, requiring the obedience of the inhabitants as true children of the Church, and vassals oftUs lord and master." And as the simple natives made no reply, they not being able to understand one word of what was said to them, he took mute ness to mean compliance, and had their ablegiance to the Crown of Castile duly recorded by the notary. After several weeks of reconnoitering the district, Pizarro decided on a locality ninety miles south of Tumbes to establish in November ~532 the first Spanish town in the Inca empire. Plans were drawn up, buildings were constructed, local govern ment was inaugurated, and the troops were each granted title to divisions of land. The problem of labour was solved by giving each Spaniard a repartimieto, OF gang of Indian slaves. The good Dominican bothers agreed with the leaders of the expedi tion that this would "serve the cause of religion and tend to the natives spiritual welfare". Having attended to these matters with punctilious regard for the well being of the 'unenlightened hea then', Pizarro bestowedl on his young town the name of San Miguel in recognition of the aid given him by that saint during the fierce campaign on Puna. At this time, he had a large accu mulation of gold and silver melted down into ingots to send to his creditors in Panama. Much of the bullion belonged to his troops, but he managed to persuade them to relinquish their shares for the present, after pledging, on his word of honour, to repay them out of the first spoils to fall into their hands. During the time spent reconnoitering the district, Pizarro had gleaned much reliable information concerning the state of the Inca empire. He had learned from various sources Ithat a bloody civil war had been fought by the two Inca princes, and that Huascar, the eldest son of the Inca, Huayna Capac, had come off rather badly in the struggle with his half brother, Atahualpa. Several battles had been fought, with heavy losses inflicted on Huascar. Forced to retire to his capital of Cozco, he had quickly raised fresh levies from the surrounding countryside. By the spring of 1532, a few months before the landing of the Spaniards, the quickly gathered peasant army of Huascar was DECEMBER-JANUARY '93