Children's Stories in American History Part 5

At these defiant words the priest turned angrily to Pizarro and made a sign. And then shouting "Santiago," the terrible war-cry of the Spaniards that had so often urged them on to victory, Pizarro seized the Inca and called upon his soldiers to come forth from their hiding-places. In a moment the place was alive with the excited Spaniards, guns were fired, and the terrified Peruvians, startled at this unexpected attack, were trampled under the horses' hoofs and blinded by the smoke, and although the Inca's guard tried in vain to protect him, they were all killed or wounded, and of the remaining Peruvians--men, women, and children--very few who had entered the square left it alive, but nearly all were murdered by the relentless Spaniards. Then the gates were closed and guarded, and the Inca was taken to Pizarro's tent, where his robe and jewels were taken from him, and after being clothed in a plainer dress he was invited to take supper with Pizarro.

Then the conqueror told his prisoner his true reason for coming to Peru, and Atahualpa heard it all with bowed head and sad face, and remembered, as he listened, the old legend of his race--how from across the seas fair-haired men were to come, bringing sorrow and destruction to the children of the Sun. The old prophecy had come true, and the last Inca of Peru was a prisoner in the hands of a strange man, with white skin and long brown hair. Pizarro slept well after his easy victory, happy in the thought that that day's work had made his name immortal, for never before in the history of the world had there been such a brilliant conquest as this. Even the name of Cortez would now stand second to his own.

The next morning Pizarro saw that the remainder of the Inca's army were making hasty preparations for departure, and in a short time scarcely a sign remained of the vast host that had been scattered over the slopes of the mountains. As Pizarro's object was simply to get all the treasures he could, he did not take any prisoners, but let the disheartened Peruvians go whither they would, and devoted himself to obtaining all the gold and jewels that could be found in Caxamalca or on the bodies of the slaughtered Indians. The Inca at once noticed the Spaniards' love of gold, and told Pizarro if he would give him his freedom he would give him a large room full of silver, and gold enough to fill half a room. Pizarro's eyes glistened at this proposal, which he at once accepted, and the Inca hastily sent some of his servants to Cuzco to order the people to bring the gold and silver from the temples and palaces. Day after day messengers arrived bringing the precious metals--vases, basins, goblets, table-service and temple-service, all of purest gold, besides golden fountains, birds, fruits, and vegetables, all carved out of the metal in the curious way known to the Indians.

Two thousand men were employed in bringing this treasure, and every day Atahualpa's heart grew lighter, for he thought each night brought him nearer freedom.

But one day messengers came to the city from the Inca's brother Huascar, saying that if Pizarro would set him free from the prison where Atahualpa had confined him, he would give the conqueror twice as much gold as the Inca had promised him. Somehow this news reached Atahualpa, and in great fear lest Pizarro should accept his brother's offer, he sent Indians to kill him as he was on his way to Caxamalca. This roused Pizarro's anger, for he had meant to get the gold from both brothers, and then decide to give the kingdom to the one who would be likely to trouble him the least. So when the news of Huascar's death came to him, and he knew he would not get the gold that he had been promised, he determined that the Inca should suffer for his loss. At the same time he heard that the Peruvians were gathering an army under one of their most skilful generals, and intended attacking the Spaniards and rescuing the Inca. No time was to be lost. Pizarro called a council of his chief men, and it was decided that the Inca must be put to death and the army march at once to Cuzco. Atahualpa could not believe the terrible news when it was brought to him; in vain he pointed to the glittering piles of gold that his faithful subjects had brought for his ransom; in vain he reminded Pizarro of his promise. The conqueror of Peru thought nothing of his honor, but only of the gold that he might find in the Inca's stately palaces, and Atahualpa learned to his cost what it meant to trust in a Spanish soldier's plighted word; for, although all the officers declared that the Inca must die, it was Pizarro himself who acted as one of the judges at the trial, and it was his voice that condemned him to death.

He was sentenced to be burned to death, and at night after the trial was over he was led out to the centre of the square and bound to the stake.

The Spanish soldiers stood round with torches in hands, watching intently the face of the doomed monarch, whose bearing was as proud and dignified as it had been when he first came to the Spanish camp surrounded by thousands of his faithful subjects.

After the f.a.gots had been piled up around him, the same priest who had first urged him to become a Christian, came to him and said that if he would be baptized he might be strangled instead of burned. As this would be a much easier death, Atahualpa consented, and the priest baptized him.

And then they killed him as he stood there alone, with his hands clasped, and his eyes lifted toward the heavens from which the great G.o.d had vanished many hours before, and so perished Atahualpa, the last of the children of the Sun, and the empire of the Incas was at an end.

Pizarro now determined to march at once to Cuzco, and in order to appease the Peruvians, who were horrified and angry at the murder of Atahualpa, a younger brother of the emperor was crowned Inca, although Pizarro meant to keep the real power in his own hands. But it would be safer for the Spaniards to march through the country if they had the person of an Inca in their power, and the young Toparca had a mild and gentle nature, and Pizarro could easily rule him.

De Soto was sent ahead to spy out danger, and although his party, as well as his main army, was attacked once or twice by Peruvians, the Spaniards had only to charge upon them with their fiery horses, when the Indians would break ranks at once and fly in terror to the woods, and so with but little adventure Cuzco was reached at last, and Pizarro found himself in the capital of the great empire he had conquered.

Toparca having died on the way to Cuzco, another brother, Manco, was crowned Inca, with great ceremony, in the midst of thousands of a.s.sembled Peruvians, and a treaty of peace was entered into between Manco and Pizarro, and eternal friendship was sworn between them; but although this satisfied the Peruvians, Manco was really kept under guard and was closely watched all the time. And now began the plunder of Cuzco, and its beautiful temples and royal palaces were soon despoiled of all their treasures; it was found when the gold and jewels had been divided that each soldier in the Spanish army was a rich man, and that the king's portion was immense.

But Cuzco was too far from the sea-coast to be a suitable capital for the new kingdom that Pizarro meant to found, and after its stores of gold and silver had been divided among the soldiers, the conqueror proposed to move the capital from Cuzco to some place nearer the coast, and as there was no large town near the sea that suited him, he gave orders that a new city should be built, with palaces, temples, and churches, and all things as fine and beautiful as could be found anywhere else in Peru. The workmen were soon at work, and thousands of Peruvians were daily employed in building the bridges and walls and towers that were to grace this new capital, whose foundations were laid in January, 1535, and which Pizarro named "The City of the Kings," and which is now known as Lima.

But it was only a few years that Pizarro lived to enjoy all his glory and prosperity, for he had many bitter enemies among the Spaniards. His old friend Almagro had been very dissatisfied at his share of the treasures that had been found in Peru, and had even tried to take Cuzco away from Pizarro, and become ruler of Peru himself. There is no doubt that Pizarro was unfaithful to his promise to divide the spoils equally with Almagro and Luque; but Luque was dead, and Almagro was obliged to take whatever Pizarro would give him, and when he attempted to obtain more by force, he was taken prisoner by Hernando Pizarro and put to death. But he left a son, Diego, who resolved to revenge his father's murder. He had many friends in the city, for his father had been very popular among the forces that he led against Pizarro, and a plan was laid to attack Pizarro as he was returning from church on Sunday and kill him. But on the Sunday appointed, Pizarro did not go to church; he had heard of the plot and remained at home. Diego and his friends were not to be baffled, however; they went at once to Pizarro's palace, and forcing their way to his private room, attacked him before his friends could come to his rescue. Pizarro fought bravely for his life, but the odds were against him, and in a few moments he fell dead at the feet of the man whose father had been his old friend, and whose help and trust had been the chief means of his conquering the empire of Peru.

CHAPTER XIII.

FERDINAND DE SOTO, THE DISCOVERER OF THE MISSISSIPPI.

Ferdinand de Soto, who was with Pizarro in Peru, was born in Spain, and the first years of his life were spent in a gloomy castle where it was so quiet, that he often grew lonely and wished that he had some playfellow besides the birds or his dog or horse. His parents were so poor that they could not afford to send him to school, and so he grew to be a big boy before knowing how to read or write; but his family were of n.o.ble blood, the n.o.blest in Spain; and although they could not send him to school, still they had him taught to ride and fence, as it was thought disgraceful for a Spanish n.o.bleman not to have these accomplishments. And so the boy learned to ride daringly, and at the age of twelve could use his sword as easily as any other Spanish boy of his age; and in the meantime, in the halls of the dark old castle, he listened eagerly to the tales he heard of the wonderful land which Columbus had discovered, and he resolved that when he became a man he would go himself across the sea and bring back gold and refurnish up the old castle and make it once more a place fit for n.o.blemen to live in.

When he learned to read he stored his mind with stories of adventure and romance, and he said that he, too, would go into the world some day and win honor and fame; and so the days pa.s.sed; the sun brightened the castle walls in the daytime and the shadows hung over them at night, and through sunlight and shadow the boy dreamed on of the years to come when he would be a knight and a soldier and gain glory and wealth under the flag of Spain.

[Ill.u.s.tration: DE SOTO.]

One day a very wealthy Spanish n.o.bleman named Don Pedro de Avila rode up to the castle and asked to see Ferdinand. Ferdinand at this time was an unusually handsome youth, tall and graceful, and remarkable for his strength and agility. He excelled all his friends in fencing and riding, and all those active amus.e.m.e.nts which the Spanish youth delighted in.

Don Pedro had noticed the handsome boy, and as he had no son of his own he offered to adopt him and educate him; so Ferdinand left his home and was sent to a Spanish university, where he spent six years, during which time he became renowned for his skill in the chivalric entertainments which were all the time going on in Spain. He took the prizes at all the tournaments, and was everywhere praised and admired. Don Pedro became very proud of him and treated him as though he were his own child.

Don Pedro had a daughter, Isabella, who was very beautiful, and her father wished her to marry some rich n.o.bleman, so that she might have a high position at the Spanish court; but while her father was away in Darien, where he had been appointed governor, Isabella fell in love with Ferdinand de Soto and promised to marry him. When Don Pedro came back and De Soto asked permission of him to marry his daughter he was very angry, and from that time he became De Soto's bitterest enemy. He was going back to Darien again, and thinking it would be a fine thing if De Soto were to go with him and get killed by the Indians, he offered to give him a handsome outfit and appoint him captain of a company of soldiers if he would go. De Soto was very poor, his parents were dead, and he thought he might win honor and wealth by going with Don Pedro, so he accepted his offer.

At the time that he left Spain, De Soto was nineteen years of age; he was away fifteen years, during which time he heard only once or twice from Isabella; he wrote to her many times and she answered his letters, but her father always destroyed the letters. During the years that he was away De Soto did indeed become rich and famous; he had left Spain a poor boy, and he returned a wealthy and honored man. Without his help Pizarro would never have been able to conquer Peru, and the fame of the great soldier De Soto was talked of from one end of Spain to the other.

In the meantime Don Pedro had died, and as soon as De Soto reached Spain he married Isabella. For two years they lived in Seville in princely style, but at the end of that time De Soto found that his money was fast melting away, so he resolved to go on another expedition and gather more gold. He asked permission of the king to conquer Florida, where it was believed there was much gold, and offered to fit out the expedition at his own expense. The king consented, and De Soto began his preparations.

As soon as it became known that De Soto was raising an army for the conquest of Florida, all the young n.o.blemen of Spain flocked eagerly around his standard. He accepted only those who were strong and able to endure hardship, for he knew that he had a very difficult task before him. Such an army had never before left Spain; the gallant and daring soldiers were nearly all wealthy and well-born. They wore costly armor and all their outfit was of the richest description. Everything was provided to make the expedition a success. Arms and provisions, chains for the Indians whom they expected to make slaves, bloodhounds for hunting runaways, and cards for the young n.o.bles to amuse themselves with. Twelve priests went with them to convert the natives and keep up religious services. Ten ships left the harbor of San Lucar, with flags flying, bugles pealing, and cannon thundering over the water, and thus De Soto, under sunny skies and with bright hopes, sailed for the summerland of De Leon.

They stopped at Cuba, where De Soto left his wife to govern the colony during his absence, and then sailing through the Gulf they entered Tampa Bay and landed. Here they heard that there was a large Indian town six miles away, and De Soto decided to march there; but when they reached the village they found it entirely deserted. Not an Indian was to be seen. It was quite a large village; the houses were made of timber, thatched with palm leaves; many of them were large, having many rooms; they had useful articles of furniture, some of which were very elegantly carved and ornamented with gold. The dresses of the women were very beautiful and trimmed with sh.e.l.ls and embroidery and richly colored; there were exquisite shawls and mantillas woven by hand from the bark of the mulberry tree, and the walls of some of the houses were hung with tapestry of prepared buckskin, while the floors were covered with carpets of the same material. The buckskin had been tanned so that it shone like satin, and was as soft as silk, and it made the rooms look very luxurious and elegant.

All this was very different from the Indian homes De Soto had seen in Darien, and he did not doubt that here he should find a kingdom as rich as Peru. He took possession of the village, and he and his soldiers lived in the houses. One or two of the Indians came back and were taken captive, and from them De Soto learned that Ucita, the Indian chief, was a mortal foe to all Spaniards because he had been so badly treated by Narvaez, a cruel Spaniard who had been there before De Soto's arrival.

Narvaez had treated Ucita most wickedly. He had caused his mother to be torn to pieces by bloodhounds; like Don Pedro in Darien, he had hunted down women and girls with his bloodhounds, and had cut infants in pieces and thrown them to the dogs, and once, in a fit of anger, he had caused Ucita's nose to be cut off. Ucita remembered all these things, and when De Soto sent to him and offered his friendship, the Indian chief replied:

"I want none of the speeches and promises of the Spaniards. Bring me their heads, and I will receive them joyfully."

Thus De Soto had to suffer for the crimes of Don Pedro and Narvaez.

While he had been in Darien he had always treated the Indians kindly, but he knew how cruelly other Spaniards had acted toward them, so he expected a great deal of trouble here. The Indians thought all Spaniards were alike, and it was a long time before he could make Ucita believe that he meant him no harm. He sent him presents again and again, and whenever an Indian was taken captive by his soldiers De Soto treated him kindly and sent him back to the tribe with presents. At last Ucita seemed to be touched by the kindness of De Soto, who then felt he could continue his march without leaving a powerful enemy behind. Ucita did not say he would be his friend, but then he showed a more friendly spirit, and the Spaniards felt he would not attack them. Ucita was a brave and n.o.ble man, generous to his friends and merciful to his enemies; but the Spaniards had treated him so inhumanly that it is no wonder he did not at first believe in De Soto's offers of friendship.

In the meantime a Spaniard had been brought into camp who had been taken prisoner by the Indians when Narvaez was in Florida. This man's name was Juan Ortiz, and he had been with the Indians ten years, so he knew their language and habits. When he was first taken prisoner he had been very cruelly treated and at last was bound to the stake to be burned; as the flames crept around him he cried aloud with pain and terror, and the chief's daughter, a very beautiful princess about sixteen years of age, could not endure the sight of his agony; she threw her arms around her father's neck and begged with tears that Ortiz might be saved. Ortiz was about eighteen years of age, tall, and very handsome, and the sight of his great beauty and the pleadings of the princess Ulelah at last touched her father's heart. Ortiz was spared, but for some time after his life was miserable, as the Indians treated him very cruelly; but at last his lot became easier, and at this time he was treated as a friend by the tribe. Of course De Soto was very glad to meet Ortiz, as he would be very useful in dealing with the natives.

Ortiz told De Soto of a very powerful chief who lived about a hundred miles from Ucita, and offered to lead him there; the Spaniards thought there might be gold there, and they joyfully set off under the command of Gallegos, De Soto remaining behind. The Indians they met told them of a place where there was so much gold that the warriors had shields and helmets made of it; but very few of the Spaniards believed this; they thought it was a trick of the Indians to get them away from the country.

In a few days De Soto followed Gallegos with the rest of the army, and they began to work their way through dense forests and swamps, and thickets, and through mud and water, losing their way and hara.s.sed by the Indians, in this mad hunt for gold.

One day, while they were travelling along the banks of a river, they saw a canoe with six Indians in it coming toward them; the Indians landed and three of them came up to De Soto, and, bowing very low, said to him: "Do you come for peace or for war?"

"I come for peace," replied De Soto, "and seek only a peaceful pa.s.sage through your land. I need food for my people and canoes and rafts to cross the river, and I beg you to help me."

The Indians said that they themselves were in want of food, as there had been a terrible sickness the year before, and that many of their tribe had died and others had gone away for fear of the pestilence, thus leaving the fields uncultivated. They also said that their chieftain was a young princess and they had no doubt she would receive them kindly and do everything for them. Having said this, the chiefs returned to the other side of the river.

And now the Spaniards, looking across the river, saw that there was a great stir in the village opposite. First, a very large and beautifully-decorated canoe appeared upon the banks, followed by several other canoes also very beautiful; then a gorgeous palanquin, borne by four men, was seen coming toward the river; the palanquin stopped at the banks, and from it a graceful girl, very finely dressed, entered the state canoe. She sat down upon the cushions in the end of the canoe, over which was stretched a canopy; she was followed by eight female attendants who entered the canoe after she had sat down. Then the six men who had just been to see De Soto entered a large canoe which was rowed by a number of other Indians. The canoe in which the princess sat was fastened to this one, and then they started, followed by several other canoes in which were the most noted warriors of the tribe.

The Spaniards were charmed with the beautiful young princess. Her attendants brought with them a chair of state upon which she took her seat after bowing to De Soto, and then they began a conversation by means of the interpreter, Juan Ortiz. The princess said that it was true the pestilence had left the tribe very poor, but that she would do everything she could to provide them with food; she offered half of her house to De Soto, and half the houses in the village to the soldiers, and said that by the next day there would be rafts and canoes ready to take the Spaniards across the river.

De Soto was much touched by the kindness of the princess and promised to be her friend forever. Then the princess rose and placed a large string of costly pearls around De Soto's neck, and he in return presented her with a gold ring set with a ruby; and then, with promises of help on the morrow, the princess and her people returned to the village.

The next day the princess had the rafts made and the Spanish army crossed the river; while crossing four horses were carried away by the swift stream and drowned, for which the Spaniards grieved very much, as these horses had been of great service to them in their journey. When they arrived at the village they found very pleasant quarters awaiting them; as there were not houses enough to hold all the soldiers, some wigwams had been built in a beautiful mulberry grove just outside the village, and the Spaniards were delighted to stop a while with these friendly Indians.

The mother of the princess was a widow living some miles down the river, and De Soto wished to see her, and, if possible, make a friend of her, so the princess, as soon as she heard this, sent twelve of her chieftains to invite her mother to visit her; but the queen refused to come, and said that her daughter had done wrong to receive the Spaniards. This made De Soto all the more desirous to make the queen his friend, so he sent thirty of his men to see her, with large presents and offer of friendship. The princess sent one of her relatives to guide the party; he was a young man about twenty years old, very handsome, and with fine manners. He was dressed in a suit of soft deerskin which was trimmed with embroidery and fringe, and wore a head-dress made of feathers of various colors; he carried in his hand a beautiful bow, highly polished, so it shone like silver, and at his shoulder hung a quiver full of arrows. The Spaniards were delighted with the fine appearance of their guide, who indeed looked worthy to serve the charming princess, and the party left the village in high spirits.

The guide led them along the banks of the river, under the shade of fine old trees; after a walk of some miles they stopped for their noon-day meal, seating themselves in the shade of a beautiful grove through which they were pa.s.sing. The young guide, who had been very pleasant and talkative all the way, now suddenly became very quiet. He took the quiver from his shoulder and drew out the arrows one by one; they were very beautiful arrows, highly polished and feathered at the end; he pa.s.sed them to the Spaniards, who admired them very much, and while they were all busy looking at them, the young Indian drew out a very long, sharp arrow shaped like a dagger. Finding that no one was looking at him, he plunged the arrow down his throat, and almost immediately died.

The Spaniards were much shocked and could not imagine why this had happened, but they afterward found out that the young guide was a great favorite with the queen, and that knowing she did not want to see the Spaniards, who, he thought, might perhaps seize her and carry her away, and not daring to disobey the princess, whom he loved and respected, he had chosen this way to free himself from his trouble.

The other Indians did not know where the mother was, so the Spaniards returned without seeing her. De Soto was much disappointed at this, and tried again to find her place of retreat, but without success. In the meantime the Spaniards had heard from the Indians that there were great quant.i.ties of white and yellow metal in their country, and they thought it must be gold and silver; but when the Indians brought it into camp, they found that the gold was copper and the silver mica, and they were again disappointed.

The princess now told De Soto that about three miles away there was a village which was once the capital of the kingdom, and that there was a great sepulchre there, in which all their chieftains and great warriors were buried, and that immense quant.i.ties of pearls had been buried with them. De Soto, with some of his officers, and some of the Indian chiefs, visited this place and found it to be a large building three hundred feet long and over a hundred feet wide, covered with a lofty roof; the entrance was ornamented with wooden statues, some of them twelve feet high, and there were many statues and carved ornaments in the inside. By the side of the coffins were small chests, and in these had been placed such things as it was thought the dead chieftains would need in the spirit world. When an Indian died his bow and arrows were always buried with him, as it was supposed he would need them in the "happy hunting-grounds," and, besides, many other things, as you already know.

In these chests the Spaniards found more pearls than they had ever dreamed of. It is said that they carried away from this place fourteen bushels of pearls, and the princess told them if they would visit other villages they would find enough pearls to load down all the horses in the army. The Spaniards were delighted and proposed to De Soto that they should make a settlement there, but he was determined to go further on in search of gold.

He had noticed that for some time the Indians had not been so friendly as they were at first; some of his soldiers had ill-treated the natives--although he had given strict orders that they should not--and now he felt sure that the princess meant to escape from the village, and that her tribe would begin a warfare with his army. So he thought the safest thing to do would be to compel the princess to go with him when he marched away. He knew that the Indians would not harm him if she were with him, as they would be afraid of harming her, too; so he told her it was necessary for her to go with him. The princess did not like this plan at all, but she said nothing, and in a few days De Soto began his march accompanied by the Indian princess, in her beautiful palanquin, which was attended by a large number of her chieftains, all handsomely dressed, and wearing their gorgeous head-dresses with their nodding plumes. For some days they travelled through the forests, when one day, as they were pa.s.sing through a very thick wood, the princess suddenly leaped from her palanquin and disappeared among the trees. She had made this plan with her warriors, and De Soto never saw or heard of her again.

It is very sad to think that a friendship which began so happily should have ended thus, and had De Soto acted differently, the princess would always have remembered him as a n.o.ble man; as it was, she must have been sorry she ever trusted him at all. Had he told her that he wished to leave her village, and to part with her and her people as friends, she would, no doubt, have let him go in peace; but by carrying her off he made her his enemy forever. His only excuse is that he thought it would really be safer both for his men and hers to make her go with him.

The Spaniards continued their journey, and in a few days came to a large Indian village. The young chief received De Soto kindly, as he had heard he did not come to make war. He took him to his own house and gave his men pleasant quarters, and they remained there two weeks. The Indians told them that there were copper and gold farther on, and some Spaniards went to find it, but were again disappointed. However, there were pearls in the rivers, and some very beautiful ones were obtained.

Many of these pearls which the Indians had were of little value, as they had bored holes through them with a red-hot iron so they might string them for necklaces and bracelets. De Soto was presented with a string of pearls six feet in length, with every pearl as large as a hazelnut, which would have been of immense value, had not the beauty of the pearls been dimmed by the action of fire. The Indians obtained the pearls by laying the oysters on hot coals, and as the heat opened the sh.e.l.ls the pearls could be taken out. To please De Soto, the chief ordered his men to do this in his presence, and from some of the largest, ten or twelve pearls were taken about the size of peas. De Soto left this pleasant Indian village and again commenced his march, and now came many dark and sad days. The Indians he met after this were mostly hostile, and there were many dreadful battles in which De Soto lost men and horses.

They journeyed summer and fall and winter, pa.s.sed through dense forests where the horses could scarcely move, and marched over barren tracts of country where they could get no supplies; they suffered from hunger and sickness, and many died on the weary march, but De Soto would not turn back, he was still determined to find gold. At length, when they were almost worn out with travelling for days through a region more dismal than any they had pa.s.sed through, uninhabited, and filled with tangled forests and swamps, they came to a small village, and here De Soto discovered, not the gold he sought, but something else which has made his name immortal. The little village was built on the banks of a river, and when De Soto went down to its margin he saw that, compared with the other rivers he had seen, it was like a sea. The river was a mile and a half wide, and rolled swiftly by, carrying with it trees and logs and driftwood. For ages this great river had rolled from the lake country above down to the Gulf, but no white man had ever looked upon it until now. De Soto, in his search for gold, had discovered the great Mississippi, the largest river in the United States, and one of the longest on the globe. The Indians called the river Mesaseba, which means, in their language, the Father of Waters.