Kitabı oku: «Spanish and Portuguese South America during the Colonial Period; Vol. 1», sayfa 7

1534.

For some time the tribesmen supplied the invaders with food; but, with the fickleness of barbarians, they one day sent back their messengers mauled and empty-handed. This was a casus belli. The brother of Mendoza marched against the natives with three hundred foot-soldiers and thirty horsemen. Heretofore Spanish cavalry had, in their encounters with American aborigines, invariably been successful. The mailed warriors of Cortez or Pizarro had turned the scale of victory on many a day; but the cavaliers who charged with Diego Mendoza were met with a weapon now used for the first time against the horse and his rider. Bolas, or balls of stone, attached to each other, three together, by strips of hide, were hurled at the advancing centaur, which, entangled and stopped, came headlong to the earth. Don Diego and some horsemen were killed, and twenty footmen met their death in covering the retreat of their mounted comrades. The discipline of the infantry, however, enabled them to remain masters of the field.

After this encounter famine seemed to stare the followers of Mendoza in the face, and an expedition sent up the river in search of food was everywhere met with hostility. Mendoza now determined to proceed up the stream, and on an island he found an interpreter in one of the followers of Cabot. Buenos Ayres was meanwhile partly relieved by the return of an expedition that had been sent to procure provisions from the coast of Brazil. This was the extent to which the bright visions of Mendoza were destined to be realized. Tortured in body and broken in spirit, the knight left the scene of his misfortunes. On his homeward voyage he was still pursued by hunger, and his reason gave way before death came to his relief.

Mendoza had resigned his powers to his lieutenant, Ayolas, who ascended the Paraná and reached the Paraguay, there losing one of his ships. Those whom it had conveyed proceeded by land, and encountered a tribe in some respects civilized. The Carios possessed maize and the sweet potato, and in their farms were found ostriches, sheep, and pigs. Their capital was surrounded by stakes. The tribesmen offered the invaders provisions on condition of their departing. This not being accepted, a fight ensued, and the natives fled. Ayolas then founded a city, in which he took to himself, as we are told, seven wives, permitting two to each of his followers. The city was called Asuncion.

1537.

After the delay of some months in his new settlement, Ayolas determined to find his way in the direction of Peru; and taking with him a sufficient party, he left one of his officers, Irala, with fifty Spaniards, at Candelaria on the Paraguay, as a supporting party in case of his retreat. The succeeding months were occupied by him in wanderings in the primeval forest, where he received from a tribe the glad tidings of the presence of gold and silver in the adjacent regions. Ayolas and his party were, however, compelled to find their way back, when they were doomed to disappointment in not meeting Irala, who, despairing of their return, after waiting six months, had returned to Asuncion. Ayolas and his people were soon after murdered by the tribe of Payaguas. Irala meanwhile, having repaired his vessels, returned to Candelaria and made fresh, but of course fruitless efforts to discover Ayolas, whose death, when he had ascertained it, he cruelly avenged on some Payaguas.

1537.

Learning the tale of treasure to be found in the interior, Irala now bent his attention to discover it. At Buenos Ayres wealth could only be the reward of industry, and therefore the settlement founded by Mendoza was abandoned, and the whole Spanish colony flocked up the river to Asuncion. They mustered six hundred souls, and Asuncion thus became the earliest founded permanent city in the region of La Plata.

1540.

It being believed in Spain, before the fact was ascertained, that Ayolas was dead, the post of Adelantado of La Plata was conferred upon Don Alvar Cabeza de Vaca, who had passed ten years as a prisoner amongst the natives of Florida. Cabeza de Vaca sailed from Spain with four hundred followers in the year 1540, and by the following March had disembarked at Santa Catalina, an island on the coast of Brazil, opposite Paraguay, where confirmation reached him of the death of Ayolas. He thereupon boldly proceeded from a point of the shore near to Santa Catalina, making direct by land for Asuncion. He took with him two hundred and fifty men with twenty-six horses, sending the remainder by water to Buenos Ayres. During nineteen days Cabeza marched through woods ere reaching a settlement of Guaranís, from whom he was enabled to obtain abundance of food for his men.

Whilst resting with these friendly people, the explorer had the good fortune to fall in with a native on his way from Asuncion to Brazil, and who undertook to retrace his steps and guide him to his seat of government. Leaving a region where a certain degree of civilisation existed—where maize and mandioc were cultivated, and where men lived in houses and reared fowls and ducks—the Spanish leader had once more to trust himself and his men to the toils and risks of a march through the primeval forest, through which, after having surmounted innumerable difficulties, they at length approached their destination. In the course of one day they had to construct as many as eighteen bridges for the passage of their horses. This march had mainly lain along the course of the river Yguazû, a tributary of the Paraná, which takes its rise near the Atlantic Ocean. In order to avoid a tribe which was reported to be hostile, Cabeza de Vaca embarked with part of his force on canoes, intending to proceed thus to the Paraná, whilst the rest of his men should march along the river’s bank to the point of junction of the two streams. But there was an obstacle in his way which prevented the execution of this scheme. The Yguazû, which stream is about one mile in breadth, while it flows through the Brazilian forest, suddenly becomes contracted, at a short distance above its junction with the Paraná, to the breadth of rather less than a thousand yards. It then breaks into several channels and rushes over a series of descents, the highest of which is one hundred and seventy-two feet. Of this cataract—which, though little visited, is perhaps the grandest in South America—the vicinity is made known by the roar of waters and by the rising of a mist which overspreads the falls to a height of more than one hundred feet.

The Indians through whose settlements Cabeza had passed, though they had appeared friendly, had permitted him to embark on the Yguazû above the falls, without giving him warning of the danger that lay before him. The canoes that had been lent to the explorer were hurled with fearful rapidity along the face of the stream, and the rate of their passage became increased as they approached the scene of danger; but the distant sound of the falling waters warned Cabeza to steer for the bank, along which, for the distance of half a league, his followers carried their canoes, re-embarking below the falls, and then proceeding, without interruption, to the point of junction of the Yguazû with the Paraná.

Cabeza de Vaca was fortunate enough to disarm any hostile intentions which may have been harboured against him by a body of Guaranís that lined the further bank of the great river. They even helped him to effect his passage across the stream into what is now the territory of Paraguay. Sending down to the care of a friendly Indian chief, and with a guard of fifty soldiers, such of his men as would be unable to bear the fatigue of the march to Asuncion, the Spanish leader proceeded on his way by land; and, after further experience of the difficulties of travelling over so densely wooded a district, he at length, on the 11th of March, had the satisfaction of reaching the settlement of his fellow-countrymen.

1542.

After the departure from the Paraná of Cabeza de Vaca, those of his men from whom he had separated were doomed to experience the invariable inconstancy of savages. The fear of chastisement and the hope of receiving presents being alike removed, the Guaranís attempted by every means in their power to cut off the sick men and their guard; but by the aid of the friendly Indian chief to whose care they had been entrusted, they were enabled to continue their course in safety, and, having descended the Paraná to the Tres Bocas, or three mouths of the Paraguay, they ascended the latter river, and reached Asuncion one month after their leader.

At the time when this exploration by land of the region between the Atlantic Ocean and the river Paraguay was being so successfully carried out under the leadership of Cabeza de Vaca, another expedition, of still greater geographical importance, was being effected elsewhere on the same Continent; but before describing the discovery of the Amazons, it is necessary to go back to the circumstances of which it was one of the results. In reconnoitering the course of exploration over a vast continent, it is impossible to relate the events of each year in the exact order in which they occurred. One must take the discovery of one region after another, going back when necessary to recount other explorations elsewhere which may have meanwhile occurred simultaneously with those already described. It may therefore be desirable here to follow the proceedings of Cabeza de Vaca in Paraguay. His first care was to send down vessels to Buenos Ayres to the relief of that portion of his force which had been despatched by sea from Santa Catalina to the latter place. It was obviously of the first advantage to the public interest that the settlement of Buenos Ayres should be re-established. Without some port near the sea the settlers in the interior would ever be at a loss for the means of communication with Spain. The vessels from Santa Catalina had reached Buenos Ayres long before the arrival of those sent from Asuncion, and during the interval the Spaniards brought by the former had nearly perished from hunger. The force from Paraguay arrived in time to enable them to resist a formidable attack from the natives. They attempted to fulfil the governor’s orders to rebuild the town; but they were at length discouraged by the incessant rain, and abandoning the attempt, embarked for Asuncion.

Cabeza de Vaca had taken into his alliance the Guaranís, and with them he proceeded to attack another tribe, the Guaycurùs, on the opposite side of the river. These were, as might be expected, disconcerted at the sight of his armed horses and riders, and readily consented to be his allies. With their aid he prepared to follow the course of exploration towards Peru; and whilst vessels were being constructed for river navigation, he sent Irala forward with an expedition by land. Soon following in person and passing a settlement on the Paraguay, called Puerto de los Reyes, which had been founded by Irala, he penetrated into the interior; but from the want of provisions he had to return to Paraguay. There he and his people suffered to the full the hardships incident to the life of explorers. Whilst they were reduced by hunger, prostrated by fever, and tormented by mosquitoes, they were attacked by formidable bands of natives, having defeated whom, the Adelantado was glad to turn his face again towards Asuncion. On his arrival, however, fresh troubles awaited him. During his absence a conspiracy had been hatched. His person was seized and his authority usurped, Irala being proclaimed governor in his stead. After a captivity of eleven months Cabeza de Vaca was sent a prisoner to Spain, in company with two official persons who were to prefer groundless charges against him; yet, notwithstanding his innocence and his services, he had, like Warren Hastings at a later period, to await during eight years a sentence of acquittal.

The downfall of Cabeza de Vaca did not inaugurate a reign of peace at Asuncion. Irala had been called to power by popular election, but his authority was curtailed by the pretensions of certain official persons who were nominated to their positions from Castile. Disputes and dissensions arose; but after a time these became silenced in the face of a combination against the Spaniards by two native tribes, the task of chastising whom was confided to Irala. The chosen leader of the colonists showed himself equal to the occasion. He successfully defended the colony, which he employed the following two years in consolidating. But a long period devoted to peaceful pursuits was not to the taste of a man cast in the mould of Vasco Nuñez or of Cortez. Setting out with three hundred and fifty Spaniards and two thousand auxiliaries, he ascended the Paraguay as far as to San Fernando. There the main body of the expedition left the course of the stream, their boats being entrusted to the care of some Spaniards. Irala was well fitted to be the leader of such an expedition of discovery. Active and experienced, he was likewise cautious, and was never found unprepared on an emergency. Having journeyed onwards for a month or more, his ears were at length greeted by the sound of the Spanish language from Peruvian lips. Such was the first communication which took place between the Spaniards proceeding from La Plata and those who proceeded from the Pacific Ocean.

1547.

Irala, in conformity with the orders of the President Gasca of Peru, retraced his steps to Asuncion. There he distributed to his followers repartimientos, or consignments of land and slaves—a measure which greatly added to his popularity. He likewise founded a new settlement named Ciudad Real, near the border line of the Spanish and Portuguese territories. In the year 1547 Asuncion became the seat of a bishop, and about the same time an important intermediate station between Paraguay and Peru was established at Santa Cruz de la Sierra, whilst Spanish civilization also began to extend downwards from Paraguay in the direction of the sea.

The favourable reports which had reached Spain of the climate and capabilities of Paraguay were such as to divert thither many emigrants who would otherwise have turned their faces towards Mexico or Peru. It was the constant endeavour of Irala to level the distinctions which separated the Spaniards from the natives and to encourage inter-marriages between them. This policy, in the course of time, led to a marked result,—namely, to that singular combination of outward civilisation and of primitive simplicity which was to be found in the modern Paraguayan race until it was annihilated under the younger Lopez. “It was,” to quote Mr. Washburn, who lived eight years amongst them, “an anomalous people, and the like had never been seen in any other country of America. The reason of this may be found in the fact that in no other colony did the early colonists in large numbers adopt the native language and take the Indian women as wives.”

1557.

Irala, in fact, created a nation. The colony under his administration became numerous and wealthy. From his first arrival in the New World until his death, his career was one of activity, toil, and adventure, always in the conscientious discharge of his duty to his sovereign and to those around him. He was the life and soul of the colony, and his death, which occurred in 1557 at the village of Ita near Asuncion, when he had attained the age of seventy years, was lamented alike by Spaniards and Guaranís. In the estimation of Mr. Washburn, he was the first and last great man ever known to La Plata.

From this date Paraguayan history is for a long period destitute of all marked events save one. It consists, indeed, mainly of the establishment and progress of the Order of Jesus in that country. An account of the origin and advance of this remarkable movement must be deferred to a future chapter.

CHAPTER VI.
DISCOVERY OF PERU

1521-1528

1521.

Under the pressure of the immense excitement which resulted from the discoveries of Columbus, the entire eastern coast of the American continent, from Labrador in the north to Terra del Fuego in the south, was explored within about thirty years from A.D. 1492. In the year 1520, the Portuguese mariner Magelhães, or Magellan, sailing under the Spanish flag, found, as has been said, a westerly way through the Straits which bear his name. The first distinct notice of the existence of Peru was given, it will be remembered, to Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, the discoverer of the Southern Sea, about the year 1511. The efforts of that distinguished explorer to penetrate to the Peruvian Coast were doomed to disappointment; but the idea of reaching the land of gold was not lost sight of by his successors. Darien being found unsuitable as a spot from which to prosecute expeditions on the Pacific, the capital of Central America was in the year 1518 transferred to Panamá, the governor being still Pedrarias; but several years elapsed before serious efforts of discovery were made in a southern direction, though meanwhile communication had been established through Central America with Mexico.

1522.

It was not till 1522 that a regular expedition was despatched from Panamá to the South, and its leader penetrated no further than had Balboa.

1524.

But in 1524 three men were found in the colony whose respective characters pointed them out as being conjointly fitted to undertake a discovery and conquest no less dazzling and wonderful than that which had been effected by Cortez. These were Francisco Pizarro, Diego Almagro, and Hernan de Luque, the Vicar of Panamá, who was, however, but the commissioner of the Licentiate Espinosa, who supplied the funds.

The celebrated Pizarro was a native of Truxillo in Estremadura, and at the time of setting out for the discovery of Peru was rather over fifty years of age. In his youth he had not been taught either to read or to write, but his fancy was captivated by the strange tales to which he listened of the New World beyond the sea. Embarking with other adventurers from Seville, he found his way to Hispaniola and later to Darien, from which place he accompanied Balboa in the march across the mountains which resulted in the discovery of the Southern Ocean. He later removed, with the seat of government, from Darien to Panamá, and was conspicuous in the conquest of the tribes to the north. Of Pizarro’s confederates, Almagro was, like himself, an illiterate soldier of fortune and of a similar time of life, whilst Luque supplied the greater proportion of the brains and of the funds requisite for their joint enterprise.

To Almagro’s lot it fell to make the preparations for the voyage. Two small vessels were fitted out at Panamá, the first of which set sail from that port with about a hundred men on board, under the command of Pizarro, in November 1524: Almagro was to follow in the second. Pizarro, after touching at the Isle of Pearls, steered his way across the Gulf of San Miguel, and, doubling the port of Pinas, entered the river Biru, of which word the modern name of that part of the world is believed to be a corruption. Sailing up this stream for two leagues, Pizarro caused his small force to disembark, and proceeded to explore the country. It was the rainy season, and the ground was a vast swamp, fringed with a tangled undergrowth of wood, behind which lay a hilly country, rough and rocky. The heat was at times oppressive. Under these discouraging circumstances, his men being famished and weary, Pizarro returned to his vessel, which, having dropped down the river to the ocean, proceeded on its southern course. At a few leagues’ distance he again landed to take in wood and water, after which he once more proceeded southwards. He now encountered a terrific tropical storm, and for ten days it required all the efforts of the crew to prevent the ship from foundering. They suffered likewise from an extreme dearth of food and water, and were not sorry to retrace their course and regain the port where they had last landed.

The same discouraging aspect of the country which had met them on the Biru, they now encountered here. In their hungry and miserable condition the beauties of the tangled thicket, with its network of creepers and flowering vines, were thrown away upon their eyes; they were alive to nothing but the incessant rain, the intolerable mud, and the unbroken solitude.

The spirit of Pizarro, however, was unsubdued. At the demand of his followers he consented to send back the vessel to the Isle of Pearls to lay in a fresh stock of provisions, but with the condition that he himself should meanwhile explore the adjacent country. No trace of a human dwelling, however, rewarded his search, whilst the only source of nourishment to his people was in the shell-fish they might pick up on the shore, or such berries and herbs as might be found in the woods. He was indefatigable in attending to the wants of his men, or endeavouring to alleviate their sufferings; more than twenty of them, however, died during the weary weeks succeeding the vessel’s departure.

In this miserable situation Pizarro was one day cheered by the unexpected announcement of a light seen in the neighbouring wood. Taking with him a party of his men, he forthwith followed its direction, and, after extricating himself from a maze of bushes, he came upon a native village, the inhabitants of which, scared at the unexpected apparition, forthwith fled. They left the provisions in their huts to the Spaniards, to whom the supply was a reprieve from death. The articles of food were maize and cocoa-nuts.

1525.

As no violence was offered to the natives, these soon returned and entered into intercourse with the strangers, whose eyes were now made glad by the golden ornaments which the Peruvians wore. Pizarro thus received a confirmation of the old reports of the existence of a land of gold to the south, and he now learned that over it a monarch ruled who dwelt at a distance of ten days’ journey beyond the mountains.

After six weeks from its departure the vessel returned, bringing with it an ample and welcome supply of provisions. It had been detained by stormy weather and adverse winds.

Hope and nourishment now combined to bring back to the Spaniards their eagerness for discovery; and Pizarro, re-embarking on board his vessel, left a scene to which he had given the name of the Port of Famine, and again sailed towards the south. Unguided by charts or pilots, he found his way slowly along the unknown coast, landing at every convenient point. In an open bay he disembarked some men, and at a short distance inland fell in with a native village, whose inhabitants at the approach of the strangers fled towards their hills. In their huts the Spaniards found both a provision of food and some ornaments of gold. They were, however, horrified by the discovery that they were in a country inhabited by cannibals. Again embarking, Pizarro and his men still held their way southwards till they reached a headland which he named Punta Quemada, and where he gave orders to anchor, and landed with the greater portion of his force.

Having proceeded about a league into the interior, he found, as he had expected, a native town of some size, and which was capable of defence; but the inhabitants as usual fled, leaving behind them their provisions and ornaments. Pizarro now judged it necessary to send back his vessel to be repaired at Panamá, and meanwhile he established his quarters in this Indian settlement, despatching a party to reconnoitre the country.

Now occurred the first collision between the natives and the invaders. The former saw their opportunity of attacking the reconnoitering party whilst divided from the main body. The Spaniards, taken by surprise, were at first thrown into disorder and lost three killed and several wounded; but having rallied, they returned the discharge of arrows from their cross-bows and then charged sword in hand, driving the natives before them.

The Peruvians, being of course acquainted with the country, made their way to Pizarro’s position, which they reached before his lieutenant could return, and commenced an assault upon him. But the conditions of combat were unfairly balanced. The naked and painted Peruvians, however brave, could make but a slight impression on the wary Spaniards, clad in armour and commanded by a practised soldier. Pizarro sallied forth with his men, and the natives for a time fell back before him. Returning to the charge, and singling out Pizarro, they inflicted on him seven wounds, and compelled him to retreat. He was, however, rescued from defeat by the opportune arrival of his lieutenant, who, attacking the natives from the rear, threw them into confusion, and forced them to abandon the ground to their opponents, who had lost two killed besides having many wounded.

Under these circumstances it was necessary to reconsider the intention of sending back the vessel, and on the whole it was deemed better that all should return in it to Panamá, near which place Pizarro was set on shore with the greater portion of his men, whilst his treasurer proceeded to lay before the governor his report, together with the gold which had been collected.

During this first expedition of Pizarro, his associate, Almagro, having at length equipped their second vessel, had set out to follow his leader with a body of some seventy adventurers. Tracing his way by the trees which had been notched as landmarks, he in time arrived at Quemada, where, like Pizarro, he met with hostility from the natives. Almagro, landing, carried the place sword in hand, and, setting fire to the dwellings, drove the natives into the forest. He then pursued his voyage and touched at several points, where, though he was rewarded by finding golden ornaments, he no longer discovered any traces of the presence of Pizarro. In this uncertainty he too retraced his way to the Isthmus, and soon rejoined his friend, by whom he was deputed to pass over to Panamá and make arrangements with the governor for the further prosecution of their enterprise.

1526.

By the influence of Luque a new compact was now entered into for the conquest of Peru, the command of the expedition being vested jointly in Pizarro and Almagro on equal terms, a condition which deeply mortified the former and proved the seed of future trouble. The confederates lost no time in setting about their enterprise. A contract was entered into between them by which it was declared that, whereas the parties had full authority to discover and subdue the countries and provinces lying south of the Gulf, belonging to the Empire of Peru, and as Fernando de Luque had advanced the funds for the enterprise in bars of gold of the value of twenty thousand pesos, they mutually bind themselves to divide equally among them the whole of the conquered territory. The two captains solemnly engage to devote themselves exclusively to the present undertaking until it is accomplished; and in case of failure in their part of the covenant, they pledge themselves to reimburse Luque for his advances, for which all the property they possess shall be held responsible, and this declaration is to be a sufficient warrant for the execution of judgment against them, in the same manner as if it had proceeded from the decree of a court of justice. The commanders, Pizarro and Almagro, made oath, in the name of God and the Holy Evangelists, sacredly to keep this covenant, swearing it on the missal, on which they traced with their own hands the sacred emblem of the Cross.¹¹ It may be noted that this compact, which was dated March 10, 1526, was signed by De Luque alone of the three contracting parties, the other two being represented by witnesses, as both were incapable of writing. This remarkable arrangement, by which a Christian priest and two adventurers settled the conditions on which they were to divide amongst themselves a vast empire with all its wealth, would not have been in accordance with the tone of the age had it not been invested with a religious character. It was drawn up in the name of the Holy Trinity and of the Virgin, and its observance was sworn to on the Cross, whilst on its conclusion the contracting parties severally received the Sacrament of the Communion.

These preliminary arrangements having been completed, two vessels were purchased and equipped; but there was some difficulty in procuring men. About one hundred and sixty adventurers were, however, mustered, and a few horses were purchased. Thus provided, Pizarro and Almagro again took their departure from Panamá. No longer hugging the coast, they stood out for the furthest point previously reached by Almagro, and arrived without accident at the river of San Juan, the banks of which were lined with native habitations. Pizarro here commenced his brigandage by surprising a village and carrying off some natives and many gold ornaments. After this first success, it was decided that Almagro should return to the Isthmus, where the sight of the gold might tempt fresh recruits; whilst the pilot, taking the other vessel, should reconnoitre the coast to the south, Pizarro meanwhile remaining near the river.

The pilot Ruiz sailed southwards as far as to the bay now known by the name of St. Matthew, when he was struck by the singular apparition of a vessel of considerable size. As he drew near, it was found to be a raft of a number of huge timbers of light wood tightly lashed together, and with two masts sustaining a square sail of cotton, whilst it was steered by means of a rudely-formed rudder. It may be mentioned, in passing, that this simple form of craft is to be seen on the Peruvian coast at the present day. The pilot found both men and women on board, having on their persons articles of wrought silver and gold, their dresses being made of woollen cloth of fine texture and embroidered with coloured birds and flowers. From these unsuspecting natives he learned that in their fields fed flocks of the animals which yielded their wool, whilst gold and silver abounded in their country. Ruiz, not being less unscrupulous than his fellows, detained some of the natives to repeat and exemplify these wonders, and, by learning Spanish, to qualify themselves as interpreters. The barque having been allowed to proceed on its voyage, Ruiz advanced southwards, and was the first European who crossed the line on the Pacific Ocean. Having reached the Punta de Pasado, he retraced his way and rejoined Pizarro.