The Last Days of the Incas by Kim MacQuarrie Read Free Book Online

dwindled, however, the Spaniards began to sicken; then, one by one, they began to die. By the time three or fourSpaniards were dying a week, the expeditionaries’ morale hit a low point. Not surprisingly, the men wanted to return to Panama. Pizarro, however, the co-CEO of an expedition that had just found evidence of a possibly wealthy kingdom, was undeterred. By now nearly fifty years old, it had taken Pizarro a quarter century of effort to command an expedition for which he stood to gain the lion’s share of the profits. As many later chroniclers noted, Pizarro normally did very little talking, but was strong on action. When sufficiently motivated, however, Pizarro could be counted upon to deliver a stirring speech. Thus, when the relief ships finally did arrive and his men made ready to abandon the expedition and return to Panama, Pizarro is said to have taken out his sword in frustration, to have etched a long line in the sand with its sharpened point and then, in his ragged clothes, to have dramatically confronted the emaciated men:
    “Gentlemen! This line signifies labor, hunger, thirst, fatigue, wounds, sickness, and every other kind of danger that must be encountered in this conquest, until life is ended. Let those who have the courage to meet and overcome the dangers of this heroic achievement cross the line in token of their resolution and as a testimony that they will be my faithful companions. And let those who feel unworthy of such daring return to Panama; for I do not wish to … [use] force upon any man. I trust in God that, for his greater honor and glory, his eternal Majesty will help those who remain with me, though they be few, and that we shall not feel the want of those who forsake us.”
    Only thirteen men are said to have crossed over the line, choosing to risk their lives and fortunes with Pizarro; they would later be known as “the men of Gallo.” The rest of the Spaniards, however, chose to return to Panama and to give up the quest for Biru.
    With their one remaining ship, Pizarro and his small group of expeditionaries now continued down the coast, heading into territory that no European had ever before explored. The coast was tropical and flush with thick trees, mangrove swamps, occasional chattering monkeys, and impenetrable forests. Beneath them flowed the cold Humboldt Current, wending its way up the South American coast from the still undiscovered Antarctic. Slowly, as the Spaniards sailed south, the forests and mosquitoesbegan to retreat until, at the very northern tip of what is now Peru, they finally sailed into view of what Pizarro and the one-eyed Almagro had been searching for and dreaming about for years—a native city, complete with more than a thousand buildings, broad streets, and what looked to be ships in the harbor. The year was 1528. And for the small band of bedraggled Spaniards who had been traveling for more than a year and many of whom were as gaunt as skeletons, they were now about to have their first real contact with the Inca Empire.
    As the Spaniards moored offshore, they soon saw a dozen balsa rafts set out from shore. Pizarro knew that because his men were few in number, he couldn’t possibly try to conquer such a large city. Instead, he would have to rely upon diplomacy in order to learn more about who and what they had stumbled upon. As the native rafts drew nearer, the Spaniards buckled on their armor and readied their swords for battle. Were the natives going to be hostile or friendly? Were there more cities? Did they have gold? Was this a simple city-state or part of a larger kingdom?
    One can only imagine the Spaniards’ relief to discover that not only were the natives on the rafts friendly, but that they arrived with gifts of food that included a peculiar kind of “lamb” (llama meat), exotic fruits, strange fish, jugs of water, and other jugs containing a tangy liquid now called
chicha
and which the Spaniards soon learned was a type of beer. One of the