situation, could not resist the incessant attacks of the Peruvians; they recovered possession of one half of their capital; and the Spaniards, worn out with uninterrupted service, suffering for the want of provisions, and ignorant as to their brethren in other stations, and the number of their enemies daily increasing, were ready to despair; the stoutest hearts sunk under such accumulated, such appalling difficulties and dangers.

At this hour of darkness, when the lamp of hope emitted but a glimmering ray, Almagro appeared at Cusco. But even this event the Pizarros hardly knew whether to regard as auspicious or calamitous, as they knew not whether he had come as a friend or foe. Whilst in Chili, he had received a patent from the crown, constituting him governor of Chili, and defining its limits, which, by his own construction, included the city of Cusco; and being informed of the revolt of the Peruvians, he marched back to prevent the place from falling into the possession of the natives, and also to rescue it from the hands of the Pizarros. Almagro was, therefore, the enemy of both parties, and both attempted to negotiate with him. The Inca, knowing his situation and pretensions, at first attempted to make terms with him; but soon being convinced that no faith could be had with a Spaniard, he fell suddenly upon him, with a numerous body of his bravest troops. The discipline and good fortune of the Spaniards once more prevailed, and the Peruvians were defeated with an immense slaughter, and their whole army dispersed. Almagro's attention was now directed against the garrison; and having surprised the sentinels, he entered the town by night, surrounded the house where the two Pizarros quartered, and compelled the garrison to surrender at discretion. Francisco Pizarro, having defeated and driven off the Peruvians who invested Lima, sent a detachment of five hundred men to Cusco to the relief of his brothers, in case they had not already fallen into the hands of the Peruvians. On their arrival they were astonished to find an enemy in their own countrymen, which was the first knowledge they had of the events that had occurred at Cusco. After first attempting, without success, to se duce Alvarado, their commander, Almagro surprised and fell upon them in the night in their camp, took Alvarado and his principal officers prisoners, and completely routed the party.

Pizarro, alarmed for the safety of his two brothers, as well as for the security of his possessions, opened a negotiation with Almagro; and having artfully prolonged the same for several months, and by deception and perfidy procured the liberation of his brothers, threw off all disguise, abandoned the negotiation, and prepared to settle the dispute in the field; and seven hundred men, ready to march to Cusco, attested the rapidity of his preparations The command of these troops he gave to his two brothers, who

anxious for victory, and thirsting for revenge, penetrated through the defiles of one branch of the Andes, and appeared on the plain before Cusco. Almagro had five hundred men, veteran soldiers, and a greater number of cavalry than his enemy: being worn out by services and fatigues, too great for his advanced age, he was obliged to intrust the command to Orgognez, who, though an officer of much merit, had not the same ascendancy over the troops as their chief, whom they had long been accustomed to follow in the career of victory. Pizarro had a superiority in numbers, and an advantage from two companies armed with muskets, and disciplined to their use. Whilst countrymen and brethren, who had made common cause in plundering and massacreing the natives, were drawn up in hostile array, and under the same banners, to shed each other's blood, the Indians, like distant clouds, covered the mountains, and viewed with astonishment, but with pleasure, that rapacity and violence of which they had been the victims, about to recoil on the heads of their invaders, and to be inflicted by their own hands. They were prepared to fall on the victorious party, who, exhausted by the contest, might be an easy prey, and thus appropriate the victory to themselves.

The conflict was fierce and tremendous; for, "when Greek meets Greek, then comes the tug of war;" for a considerable time the result was doubtful, but Orgognez, having received a dangerous wound, his party was completely routed, himself slain in cold blood, one hundred and forty killed, and the rest fell into the hands of the victors. Almagro, who had witnessed the action from a litter with the deepest emotions, attempted to escape, but was made a prisoner. After being detained in custody for several months, he was subjected to a mock trial, and sentenced to death. Cusco was again pillaged, but its rich spoils did not satisfy the rapacity of its conquerors.

Pizarro now considered himself master of the entire country, and parcelled it out among his favourites, with as much justice and propriety as the pope had granted the whole to his master. But not being able to satisfy all, and to prevent the consequences of the complaints and the turbulence of his men, he promoted enterprises which employed them at a distance. Valdivia resumed the project of the conquest of Chili, and founded the city of St. Jago de Santiago. His brother, Gonsalo Pizarro, he appointed to supersede Benalcazar as governor of Quito, and instructed him to examine and conquer the country east of the Andes. At the head of three hundred and fifty men, he forced his way through the defiles and over the elevated ridges of the Andes, where the cold was so excessive that four thousand Indians, who accompanied him to transport his provisions, all perished; and from their excessive fatigues, the severity of the cold, and the want of pro

visions, the Spaniards themselves, inured to hardships as they were, could scarcely sustain such accumulated evils, such intolerable sufferings. Some of their number fell victims to them. After crossing the mountains, new and unexpected calamities from the climate awaited them, and scarcely less severe; having escaped the frosts of the mountains, they were now to be destroyed by the rains of the plains. For two months the rain fell incessantly; there was scarcely sufficient fair weather to dry their clothes. They, however, advanced until they reached the banks of one of the principal branches of the Maragnon or Amazon. Here they constructed a bark for the purpose of passing rivers, conveying provisions, and exploring the country. Fifty men were put on board, under Orellana, the officer next in authority to Pizarro, and the rapidity of the stream soon carried them ahead of their brethren, who made their way with difficulty by land.

Orellana, imitating the examples which had been furnished him, was no sooner beyond the power of Pizarro, than he considered himself independent, and determined to carry on business on his own account, as a discoverer. He formed the bold scheme of pursuing the course of the Amazon to the ocean, and exploring the vast interior regions of the southern continent. This daring attempt, as bold as it was unjustifiable, he accomplished: committing his frail bark to the guidance of the rapid stream, he penetrated four thousand miles through an unknown region, filled with hostile tribes, and where, for unknown ages, wild beasts and savages alone had roamed joint tenants of its immense domains. He found his way safely to the ocean, and finally to Spain, where he published a marvellous account of his voyage and discoveries; and, among other wonders, gave an account of a nation or community of women, which he visited, having all the heroic virtues of the ancient Amazons; and, from the propensity of mankind for the marvellous, this community of Amazons long maintained their existence, after the discoveries made, and the progress of science had dissipated the darkness which first gave credit to the narration. Orellana was ordered to wait at the junction of the Napo with the Amazon, for the arrival of Pizarro; and the astonishment and consternation of the latter, when he ascertained the infamous treachery of Orellana, who had basely deprived his brethren of their only resource, and left them to perish in the heart of an immense wilderness, can better be conceived than described. They were twelve hundred miles from Quito, to which place they turned their course: the hardships they had before encountered, now seemed comparatively but small: they were compelled to subsist on berries and roots; they even devoured their dogs, horses, the most loathsome reptiles, and the leather of their saddles. After the expiration of two years,

eighty of the Spaniards, only, returned to Quito, and these were as naked as the savages, and emaciated to skeletons.

But Pizarro found neither repose nor consolation on his return; as the last dregs of his cup of bitterness, he learnt the awful fate of his brother, and the overthrow of his power. The adherents of Almagro and other malecontents formed a bold conspiracy, surprised and assassinated the governor in his own palace, and proclaimed young Almagro, now arrived at manhood, to be the head of the government, as successor to his father. The shocking dissensions in Peru being known at the court of Castile, Vaca de Castro received a royal commission, appointing him governor of Peru, for the purpose of quieting the existing disturbances, and establishing the authority of the Spanish government. Having landed at Quito, he immediately, and with great energy, adopted measures to suppress the insurrection, and bring the daring conspirators to punishment. He marched toward Cusco, whither Almagro had retired; the hostile parties met at Chupaz, about two hundred miles from Cusco, and both determined to decide the contest at once. The action was bloody and decisive, and characterized by that fierceness, impetuosity, and vindictive spirit, which the deadly animosities of both parties, and desperate situation of one, were calculated to inspire; and the slaughter was in proportion to the maddening fury of the combatants. Of fourteen hundred men, the whole number engaged on both sides, more than one thousand lay dead and wounded on the field of battle. Superiority of numbers prevailed, and young Almagro and his party, or all who escaped the sword, fell into the hands of the victors. And although they were countrymen and fellowchristians, the tender mercies of their conquerors were cruelties; forty were executed as rebels; many were banished, and young Almagro, their leader, was publicly beheaded at Cusco. These events occurred in 1542..

At length the torch of civil dissension, if not extinguished, ceased to burn; and a short period of repose was restored to a country, whose history hitherto was but a succession of carnage and bloodshed.

But tranquillity in Peru was not of long continuance; new regulations having been framed for the government of the Spanish possessions in America, which greatly alarmed the settlers, by depriving them of their oppressive power over the natives, and Nugnez Vela being sent out to Peru as governor, to enforce them, the elements of dissension were again brought into action, and the gathering clouds threatened another storm of civil war. The rashness and violence of the new governor increased the disorders, and spread the disaffection throughout the provinces. The malecontents from all quarters looked to Gonsalo Pizarro as

their leader and deliverer; and, having taken the field, he soon found himself at the head of one thousand men, with which he moved toward Lima. But before he arrived there a revolution had taken place; the governor and the judges of the court of Audience, had long been in contention, and finally the latter, gaining the ascendancy, seized the governor, and sent him prisoner to a desert island on the coast. Pizarro, finding things in this state of disorder, beheld the supreme authority within his reach, and compelled the judges of the royal audience to appoint him governor and captain-general of Peru. He had scarcely possessed himself of his usurped authority, before he was called to defend it, against a formidable opponent. Nugnez Vela, the governor, being set at liberty by the officer intrusted with conducting him to Spain, landed at Tumbez, raised the royal standard, and resumed his functions as viceroy of the province. Many distinguished individuals declared in his favour, and, from the violence of Pizarro's administration, he soon found himself at the head of a considerable force. Pizarro immediately prepared to meet him, and to decide, by the umpirage of the sword, the validity of their respective pretensions. But Vela being inferior in the number of his forces, and unwilling to stake his power and his life on the issue of an engagement, retreated toward Quito, and was pursued with great celerity by Pizarro.

Not being able to defend Quito, the viceroy continued his march into the province of Popayan, where he received so considerable re-enforcements that he determined to march back to Quito, and decide the contest. Pizarro, confiding in the known bravery of his troops, rejoiced at an opportunity to meet him; the conflict, as usual, was sharp, fierce, and bloody; Pizarro was victorious, and the viceroy, who fell covered with wounds, had his head cut off and placed on a gibbet in Quito, whilst the conquerors made a triumphal entry into the city. All opposition to the authority of the victor ceased, and Pizarro now found himself supreme master of Peru, and of the South Sea, as he possessed a fleet which had captured Panama, and commanded the ocean.

These alarming dissensions gave great concern to the government of Spain, and led to the appointment of Pedro de la Gasca, with unlimited authority to suppress them, and restore tranquillity and the power of the parent country. He came without troops, and almost without attendants; his conduct was directly the reverse of Vela, his predecessor; he was truly the minister of peace; it was his object to reclaim, not to subdue: and by his conciliatory conduct, and mild and judicious measures, he effected more than he could have done by the sword. Several of Pizarro's officers declared in his favour, and from the contagion of example, and the oblivion which he proclaimed to all