himself with dignity, and only requested that no insult might be offered to the empress, or his children. When brought into the presence of Cortes, he behaved with a degree of composure and dignity that would have done honour to any monarch on earth. Addressing himself to Cortes, he said, "I have done what became a monarch; I have defended my people to the last extremity. Nothing now remains but to die. Take this dagger," (laying his hand on one which Cortes wore,) "plant it in my breast, and put an end to a life which can no longer be of any use." Previous to his leaving the city, he had caused all his treasures to be thrown into the lake.

The capture of the sovereign terminated the struggle, and the city and the empire fell into the hands of the conquerors. The siege had continued seventy-five days, and was by far the most extraordinary and memorable military effort in the conquest of America. The exertions, bravery, perseverance, and astonishing exploits of Cortes and his followers, are unexampled; yet it is not to be supposed that the Mexican empire, comprising a vast population, in a considerable state of improvement, was conquered by a few hundred Spaniards: its conquest was effected by internal disaffections and divisions, and the jealousy of its neighbours, who dreaded its power, the oppression of which they had often experienced.

The excessive joy of the Spaniards was changed to murmurs, when they learnt the small amount of treasure which had fallen into their hands; and such was their rage and disappointment, that Cortes was obliged to give way to it, and suffer Guatimozin to be put to the torture, to compel him to discover the royal treasures which they supposed he had concealed. And with such dignity and fortitude did he endure the torture, that when the anguish and pain was at its height, and his fellow-sufferer seemed to ask permission to purchase relief by revealing what he knew, the royal victim, with a look of authority and scorn, reproached him for his weakness, by asking, "Am I now reposing on a bed of roses?" After this reproof, his fellow-sufferer remained silent, and expired under the torture of men calling themselves Christians. Cortes, ashamed of what he had done, interfered, and rescued the royal victim from the hands of his persecutors.

On the 10th of August, 1519, Ferdinand Magellan sailed from Seville, with five ships and two hundred and thirty-four men, on a voyage of discovery. He discovered and entered the spacious bay forming the mouth of the River de la Plata, supposing it to be a strait, or communication leading into the Southern Ocean; and proceeding south he entered the strait that bears his name, and after sailing twenty days in that winding channel, the great Southern Ocean presented itself to his astonished vision, and

with tears of joy he returned thanks to Heaven. Pursuing his course toward the northwest, he sailed for three months and twenty days without discovering land; and from the uninterrupted course of fair weather, and the favourableness of the winds, he gave that ocean the name of Pacific, which it has ever since retained. He discovered numerous islands, and among others the Philippines. In a quarrel with the natives, at one of these islands, he was unfortunately killed. The expedition, after the death of its commander, discovered the great island of Borneo, and at length arrived at one of the Molucca isles, to the no small astonishment of the Portuguese, who could not conceive how the Spaniards, by sailing in a westerly direction, had arrived at an island which they discovered by sailing in a directly opposite course. From this place they sailed by the way of the Cape of Good Hope, and returned home, after a voyage of three years and twenty-eight days, having sailed round the globe for the first time.

The accounts of Cortes' victories and conquests, which were sent to Spain, filled his countrymen with admiration, and excited the highest expectations with the people and the government. Charles V. who had succeeded to the throne, appointed Cortes captain-general of New Spain; and even before he had received any legal sanction, he assumed the power of governor, and adopted measures to secure the vast country he had conquered to his sovereign, as a colony of Spain. He determined to rebuild the capital, and there to establish the seat of his government; he commenced the work on an extended plan, and laid the foundations of the most magnificent city in the new world. He caused examinations to be made for mines, opened some, and encouraged his countrymen to settle in the remote provinces.

The Mexicans, conquered and degraded as they were, did not quietly submit to their new masters; but aroused by oppression or despair, they often, with more courage than discretion, rushed to arms, and were not only defeated in every contest, but the Spaniards, regarding these attempts to regain their liberty as rebellion against their lawful sovereign, put the caciques and nobles, who fell into their hands, to death, and reduced the common people to the most humiliating and degrading servitude. The massacres and cruelties of the Spaniards are almost incredible. "In almost every district of the Mexican empire, the progress of the Spanish arms is marked with blood. In the country of Panuco, sixty caciques, or leaders, and four hundred nobles, were burnt at one time; and, to complete the horror of the scene, the children and relations of the wretched victims were assembled, and compelled to be spectators of their dying agonies."* This sanguinary scene

VOL. I.

* Robertson.

4*

F

was succeeded by another, if possible still more revolting and horrible to the natives. On suspicion, or pretence, that Guatimozin had conspired against the Spanish authority, and excited his former subjects to take up arms, the unhappy monarch, with the caciques of Tezcuco and Tacuba, the two most distinguished personages in the empire, without even the formality of a trial, were brought to a public and ignominious execution, and hanged on a gibbet, in the presence of their countrymen, who witnessed the scene with indescribable horror, as they had long been accustomed to reverence their sovereign with homage and awe, scarcely less profound than that offered to their gods.

For all his toils and sufferings, his splendid achievements, his extensive conquests, and all the cruelties and crimes he committed for his sovereign, Cortes received the reward which usually attends those who perform great services for their country: he was envied, calumniated, suspected, recalled, deprived of his authority, and of all benefit from his exertions, except the glory of being the conqueror of Mexico, and the oppressor and destroyer of a great, and once prosperous and happy nation.

CHAPTER III.

Expedition for the discovery of Peru-the coast of Chili and Peru discovered-Pizarro visits Spain—returns, and fits out another expedition for the conquest of the country—the first colony in Peru planted-the Incas of the country-Pizarro marches into the interior, and captures the Inca-he offers to fill a room with gold for his ransom-is put to death-the Peruvians determine to expel their invaders-they besiege Cusco-action between Pizarro and Almagro-expedition of Gonsalo Pizarro-the incredible sufferings of his men-Orellana, one of his officers, with fifty men, deserts—sails down the Amazon, and enters the Atlantic Ocean-Distress of Gonsalo—he returns to Quito-Vaca de Castro appointed governor of Peru-insurrection among Spaniards against Pizarro-he is assassinated in his palaceVela appointed governor-bloody action between him and Gonsalo Pizarro-Gasca sent from Spain, as governor-his pacific measures—Pizarro refuses to submit-is defeated and beheaded -Gasca returns to Spain.

the

THE success of Cortes, and other Spanish adventurers in America, stimulated the ambition of their countrymen, and gave additional impulse to the spirit of enterprise and discovery, which was the prevailing passion of the day. The discoveries and conquests which had been made, and the settlements that had been established, served both as incentives and facilities to new and bolder enterprises. The settlement at Panama, on the western coast of the isthmus of Darien, greatly facilitated the plans of adventurers in that quarter, and became, in some measure, the parent of most of the early settlements on the coast of the Southern Ocean.

Soon after the conquest of Mexico, about the year 1524, three obscure individuals, residing at Panama, formed a plan for discovering and conquering the rich countries to the eastward of that colony, which had long attracted the attention of adventurers. These individuals were Francisco Pizarro, the natural son of a Spanish gentleman, a soldier, and one of the early adventurers to the new world; Diego de Almagro, also a soldier, and whose origin was equally humble with that of his associate, one being a bastard and the other a foundling; and Hermando Luque, an ecclesiastic, who was employed in the double capacity of priest and schoolmaster at Panama. The last, by some means not known,

had acquired considerable wealth, but his two associates possessed but little; each, however, was to embark his whole fortune in the enterprise, together with all his hopes. The contract between them was solemnized by religious sanctions, although its object was rapine and murder.

With all their united means and exertions they were enabled only to fit out one small vessel, with one hundred and twelve men, Pedrarias, the governor of Panama, having first authorized the expedition. This was commanded by Pizarro, and afterward Almagro sailed with seventy men more as a re-enforcement. Such were the men, and such the means, by which one of the most extensive empires on the globe was to be conquered—an empire · where civilization and the arts had made great progress, and whose government was not only established on divine authority, but its sovereign claimed relationship with the gods, and was venerated by his subjects accordingly.

Their first expedition was productive of little more advantage than the discovery of the opulent country of which they were in pursuit, whose existence had become a matter of doubt, in consequence of the failure of several attempts at discovery. After having touched at various places, and suffered incredible hardships, they discovered the coast of Chili, and landed at Tacamez, south of the river Emeraulds, where they beheld with pleasure a fertile and inviting country, very different from any they had discovered in the Southern Ocean. The country was cultivated, and the natives were clad in garments of white cotton stuffs, and adorned with trinkets of gold and silver. Although delighted with these appearances, the adventurers did not presume to invade so populous a country with a handful of men, worn out with hardships, and wasted by disease. They stopped at the island of Gallo, and Almagro returned to Panama to obtain re-enforcements, leaving Pizarro with part of the men. Pedro de los Rios, having succeeded Pedrarias as governor of the colony, and apprehending that the settlement of Panama would be weakened, and even exposed, by sending off adventurers in a distant and uncertain enterprise, he prohibited Almagro from raising more recruits, and despatched a vessel to bring back Pizarro and his followers, who were left behind. When the vessel arrived, Pizarro, inflexibly bent on his purposes, peremptorily refused to obey the orders of the governor, and used every persuasion to induce his men to remain with him. He drew a line on the sand with his sword, and informed his followers, that those who wished to abandon their leader and the glorious enterprise, would pass over: thirteen only remained to share the fortune of their commander. This small and dauntless band removed to the island of Gorgona, as being a more safe situation, where they remained for more than five