History of the World/History of the World (Bureau Development, Inc.)(1992).BIN/dp/0217/02178.txt

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$Title{History Of The Conquest Of Peru
Chapter VIII: Part II}
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$Author{Prescott, William H.}
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$Date{1864}
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Title:       History Of The Conquest Of Peru
Book:        Book III: Conquest Of Peru
Author:      Prescott, William H.
Date:        1864

Chapter VIII: Part II

     The commander-in-chief, meanwhile, lay at Xauxa, where he was greatly
disturbed by the rumors which reached him of the state of the country.  His
enterprise, thus far, had gone forward so smoothly, that he was no better
prepared than his lieutenant to meet with resistance from the natives.  He
did not seem to comprehend that the mildest nature might at last be roused
by oppression; and that the massacre of their Inca, whom they regarded with
such awful veneration, would be likely, if any thing could do it, to wake
them from their apathy.

     The tidings which he now received of the retreat of the Peruvians were
most welcome; and he caused mass to be said, and thanksgivings to be offered
up to Heaven, "which had shown itself thus favorable to the Christians
throughout this mighty enterprise." The Spaniard was ever a Crusader.  He
was, in the sixteenth century, what Coeur de Lion and his brave knights were
in the twelfth, with this difference; the cavalier of that day fought for the
Cross and for glory, while gold and the Cross were the watchwords of the
Spaniard.  The spirit of chivalry had waned somewhat before the spirit of
trade; but the fire of religious enthusiasm still burned as bright under the
quilted mail of the American Conqueror, as it did of yore under the iron
panoply of the soldier of Palestine.

     It seemed probable that some man of authority had organized, or at least
countenanced, this resistance of the natives, and suspicion fell on the
captive chief Challcuchima, who was accused of maintaining a secret
correspondence with his confederate, Quizquiz.  Pizarro waited on the Indian
noble, and, charging him with the conspiracy, reproached him, as he had
formerly done his royal master, with ingratitude towards the Spaniards, who
had dealt with him so liberally.  He concluded by the assurance, that, if he
did not cause the Peruvians to lay down their arms, and tender their
submission at once, he should be burnt alive, so soon as they reached
Almagro's quarters. ^16

[Footnote 16: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Ped. Sancho, Rel., ap
Ramusio, tom. III. fol. 406.]

     The Indian chief listened to the terrible menace with the utmost
composure.  He denied having had any communication with his countrymen, and
said, that, in his present state of confinement, at least, he could have no
power to bring them to submission.  He then remained doggedly silent, and
Pizarro did not press the matter further. ^17 But he placed a strong guard
over his prisoner, and caused him to be put in irons.  It was an ominous
proceeding, and had been the precursor of the death of Atahuallpa.

[Footnote 17: Ibid., ubi supra.]

     Before quitting Xauxa, a misfortune befell the Spaniards in the death
of their creature, the young Inca Toparca.  Suspicion, of course, fell on
Challcuchima, now selected as the scape-goat for all the offences of his
nation. ^18 It was a disappointment to Pizarro, who hoped to find a convenient
shelter for his future proceedings under this shadow of royalty. ^19

[Footnote 18: It seems, from the language of the letter addressed to the
Emperor by the municipality of Xauxa, that the troops themselves were far
from being convinced of Challcuchima's guilt.  "Publico fue, aunque dello no
ubo averiguacion in certenidad, que el capitan Chaliconiman le abia dado
ierbas o a beber con que murio." Carta de la Just. v Reg. de Xauja, Ms.]

[Footnote 19: According to Velasco, Toparsa, whom, however, he calls by
another name, tore off the diadem bestowed on him by Pizarro, with disdain,
and died in a few weeks of chagrin.  (Hist. de Quito, tom. I. p. 377.) This
writer, a Jesuit of Quito, seems to feel himself bound to make out as good
a case for Atahuallpa and his family, as if he had been expressly retained
in their behalf.  His vouchers - when he condescends to give any - too rarely
bear him out in his statements to inspire us with much confidence in his
correctness.]

     The general considered it most prudent not to hazard the loss of his
treasures by taking them on the march, and he accordingly left them at Xauxa,
under a guard of forty soldiers, who remained there in garrison.  No event
of importance occurred on the road, and Pizarro, having effected a junction
with Almagro, their united forces soon entered the vale of Xaquixaguana,
about five leagues from Cuzco.  This was one of those bright spots, so often
found embosomed amidst the Andes, the more beautiful from contrast with the
savage character of the scenery around it.  A river flowed through the
valley, affording the means of irrigating the soil, and clothing it in
perpetual verdure; and the rich and flowering vegetation spread out like a
cultivated garden.  The beauty of the place and its delicious coolness
commended it as a residence for the Peruvian nobles, and the sides of the
hills were dotted with their villas, which afforded them a grateful retreat
in the heats of summer. ^20 Yet the centre of the valley was disfigured by a
quagmire of some extent, occasioned by the frequent overflowing of the
waters; but the industry of the Indian architects had constructed a solid
causeway, faced with heavy stone, and connected with the great road, which
traversed the whole breadth of the morass. ^21

[Footnote 20: "Auia en este valle muy sumptuosos aposentos y ricos adonde los
senores del Cuzco salian a tomar sus plazeres y solazes.' Cieza de Leon,
Cronica, cap. 91.]

[Footnote 21: Ibid., ubi supra.]

     In this valley Pizarro halted for several days, while he refreshed his
troops from the well-stored magazines of the Incas.  His first act was to
bring Challcuchima to trial; if trial that could be called, where sentence
may be said to have gone hand in hand with accusation.  We are not informed
of the nature of the evidence.  It was sufficient to satisfy the Spanish
captains of the chieftain's guilt.  Nor is it at all incredible that
Challcuchima should have secretly encouraged a movement among the people,
designed to secure his country's freedom and his own.  He was condemned to
be burnt alive on the spot.  "Some thought it a hard measure," says Herrera;
"but those who are governed by reasons of state policy are apt to shut their
eyes against every thing else." ^22 Why this cruel mode of execution was so
often adopted by the Spanish Conquerors is not obvious; unless it was that
the Indian was an infidel, and fire, from ancient date, seems to have been
considered the fitting doom of the infidel, as the type of that
inextinguishable flame which awaited him in the regions of the damned.

[Footnote 22: Hist. General, dec. 5, lib. 6 cap. 3.]

     Father Valverde accompanied the Peruvian chieftain to the stake.  He
seems always to have been present at this dreary moment, anxious to profit
by it, if possible, to work the conversion of the victim.  He painted in
gloomy colors the dreadful doom of the unbeliever, to whom the waters of
baptism could alone secure the ineffable glories of paradise. ^23 It does not
appear that he promised any commutation of punishment in this world.  But his
arguments fell on a stony heart, and the chief coldly replied, he "did not
understand the religion of the white men." ^24 He might be pardoned for not
comprehending the beauty of a faith which, as it would seem, had borne so
bitter fruits to him.  In the midst of his tortures, he showed the
characteristic courage of the American Indian, whose power of endurance
triumphs over the power of persecution in his enemies, and he died with his
last breath invoking the name of Pachacamac.  His own followers brought the
fagots to feed the flames that consumed him. ^25

[Footnote 23: Ped. Sancho, Rel., ap. Ramusio, tom. III. fol. 406.]

[Footnote 24: Ibid., loc. cit.]

[Footnote 25: Ibid. loc. cit. - Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.

     The Ms. of the old Conqueror is so much damaged in this part of it that
much of his account is entirely effaced.]

     Soon after this tragic event, Pizarro was surprised by a visit from a
Peruvian noble, who came in great state, attended by a numerous and showy
retinue.  It was the young prince Manco, brother of the unfortunate Huascar,
and the rightful successor to the crown.  Being brought before the Spanish
commander, he announced his pretensions to the throne, and claimed the
protection of the strangers.  It is said he had meditated resisting them by
arms, and had encouraged the assaults made on them on their march; but,
finding resistance ineffectual, he had taken this politic course, greatly to
the displeasure of his more resolute nobles.  However this may be, Pizarro
listened to his application with singular contentment, for he saw in this new
scion of the true royal stock, a more effectual instrument for his purposes
than he could have found in the family of Quito, with whom the Peruvians had
but little sympathy.  He received the young man, therefore, with great
cordiality, and did not hesitate to assure him that he had been sent into the
country by his master, the Castilian sovereign, in order to vindicate the
claims of Huascar to the crown, and to punish the usurpation of his rival. ^26

[Footnote 26: Ped. Sancho, Rel., ap. Ramusio, tom. III. fol. 406. - Pedro
Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.]

     Taking with him the Indian prince, Pizarro now resumed his march.  It was
interrupted for a few hours by a party of the natives, who lay in wait for him
in the neighbouring sierra.  A sharp skirmish ensued, in which the Indians
behaved with great spirit, and inflicted some little injury on the Spaniards;
but the latter, at length, shaking them off, made good their passage through
the defile, and the enemy did not care to follow them into the open country.

     It was late in the afternoon when the Conquerors came in sight of Cuzco.
^27 The descending sun was streaming his broad rays full on the imperial city,
where many an altar was dedicated to his worship.  The low ranges of
buildings, showing in his beams like so many lines of silvery light, filled up
the bosom of the valley and the lower slopes of the mountains, whose shadowy
forms hung darkly over the fair city, as if to shield it from the menaced
profanation.  It was so late, that Pizarro resolved to defer his entrance till
the following morning.

[Footnote 27: "Y dos horas antes que el Sol se pusiese, llegaron a vista de
la ciudad del Cuzco.  "Relacion del Primer. Descub., Ms]

     That night vigilant guard was kept in the camp, and the soldiers slept
on their arms.  But it passed away without annoyance from the enemy, and
early on the following day, November 15, 1533, Pizarro prepared for his
entrance into the Peruvian capital. ^28

[Footnote 28: The chronicles differ as to the precise date.  There can be no
better authorities than Pedro Sancho's narrative and the Letter of the
Magistrates of Xauxa, which have followed in the text]

     The little army was formed into three divisions, of which the centre, or
"battle," as it was called, was led by the general.  The suburbs were thronged
with a countless multitude of the natives, who had flocked from the city and
the surrounding country to witness the showy, and, to them, startling pageant.
All looked with eager curiosity on the strangers, the fame of whose terrible
exploits had spread to the remotest parts of the empire.  They gazed with
astonishment on their dazzling arms and fair complexions, which seemed to
proclaim them the true Children of the Sun; and they listened with feelings of
mysterious dread, as the trumpet sent forth its prolonged notes through the
streets of the capital, and the solid ground shook under the heavy tramp of
the cavalry.

     The Spanish commander rode directly up the great square.  It was
surrounded by low piles of buildings, among which were several palaces of the
Incas.  One of these, erected by Huayna Capac, was surmounted by a tower,
while the ground-floor was occupied by one or more immense halls, like those
described in Caxamalca, where the Peruvian nobles held their fetes in stormy
weather.  These buildings afforded convenient barracks for the troops, though,
during the first few weeks, they remained under their tents in the open plaza,
with their horses picketed by their side, ready to repulse any insurrection of
the inhabitants. ^29

[Footnote 29: Ped. Sancho, Rel., ap. Ramusio, tom. III. fol. 407. -
Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 1, lib. 7, cap. 10. - Relacion del Primer.
Descub., Ms.]

     The capital of the Incas, though falling short of the El Dorado which
had engaged their credulous fancies, astonished the Spaniards by the beauty
of its edifices, the length and regularity of its streets, and the good order
and appearance of comfort, even luxury, visible in its numerous population.
It far surpassed all they had yet seen in the New World.  The population of
the city is computed by one of the Conquerors at two hundred thousand
inhabitants, and that of the suburbs at as many more. ^30 This account is not
confirmed, as far as I have seen, by any other writer.  But however it may
be exaggerated, it is certain that Cuzco was the metropolis of a great
empire, the residence of the Court and the chief nobility; frequented by the
most skilful mechanics and artisans of every description, who found a demand
for their ingenuity in the royal precincts; while the place was garrisoned
by a numerous soldiery, and was the resort, finally, of emigrants from the
most distant provinces.  The quarters whence this motley population came were
indicated by their peculiar dress, and especially their head-gear, so rarely
found at all on the American Indian, which, with its variegated colors, gave
a picturesque effect to the groups and masses in the streets.  The habitual
order and decorum maintained in this multifarious assembly showed the
excellent police of the capital, where the only sounds that disturbed the
repose of the Spaniards were the noises of feasting and dancing, which the
natives, with happy insensibility, constantly prolonged to a late hour of the
night. ^31

[Footnote 30: "Esta ciudad era muy grande i mui populosa de grandes edificios
i comarcas, quando los Eespanoles entraron la primera vex en ella havia gran
cantidad de gente, seria pueblo de mas de 40 mill. vecinos solamente lo que
tomaba la ciudad, que arravalles i comarca en deredor del Cuzco a 10 o 12
leguas creo yo que havia docientos mill. Indios porque esto era lo mas
poblado de todos estos reinos." (Conq. i Pob. del Peru, Ms.) The vecino or
"householder" is computed, usually, as representing five individuals. - Yet
Father Valverde, in a letter written a few years after tis, speaks of the
city as having only three or four thousand houses at the time of its
occupation, and the suburbs as having nineteen or twenty thousand.  (Cart al
Emperador, Ms., 20 de Marzo, 1539.) It is possible that he took into the
account only the better kind of houses, not considering the mud huts, or
rather hovels, which made so large a part of a Peruvian town, as deserving
notice.]

[Footnote 31: "Heran tantos los atambores que de noche se oian por todas
cartes bailando y cantando y belendo que toda la mayor parte de la noche se
les pasava en esto cotidianamente." Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.]

     The edifices of the better sort - and they were very numerous - were of
stone, or faced with stone. ^32 Among the principal were the royal residences;
as each sovereign built a new palace for himself, covering, though low, a
large extent of ground.  The walls were sometimes stained of painted with
gaudy tints, and the gates, we are assured, were sometimes of colored
marble. ^33 In the delicacy of the stone-work," says another of the
Conquerors, "the natives far excelled the Spaniards, though the roofs of
their dwellings, instead of tiles, were only of thatch, but put together with
the nicest art." ^34 The sunny climate of Cuzco did not require a very
substantial material for defence against the weather.

[Footnote 32: "La maggior parte di queste case sono di pietra, et l'altre
hano la meta della facciata di pietra." Ped. Sancho, Rel., ap. Ramusio, tom.
III. fol. 413.]

[Footnote 33: The buildings were usually of freestone.  There may have been
porphyry from the neighbouring mountains mixed with this, which the Spaniards
mistook for marble.]

[Footnote 34: "Todo labrado de piedra muy prima, que cierto toda la canteria
desta cibdad hace gran ventaja a la de Espana, aunque carecen de teja que
todas las casas sino es la fortaleza, que era hecha de azoteas son cubiertas
de paja, aunque tan primamente puesta, que parece bien." Relacion del Primer.
Descub., Ms.]

     The most important building was the fortress, planted on a solid rock,
that rose boldly above the city.  It was built of hewn stone, so finely
wrought that it was impossible to detect the line of junction between the
blocks; and the approaches to it were defended by three semicircular parapets,
composed of such heavy masses of rock, that it bore resemblance to the kind of
work known to architects as the Cyclopean.  The fortress was raised to a
height rare in Peruvian architecture; and from the summit of the tower the eye
of the spectator ranged over a magnificent prospect, in which the wild
features of the mountain scenery, rocks, woods, and waterfalls, were mingled
with the rich verdure of the valley, and the shining city filling up the
foreground, - all blended in sweet harmony under the deep azure of a tropical
sky.

     The streets were long and narrow.  They were arranged with perfect
regularity, crossing one another at right angles; and from the great square
diverged four principal streets connecting with the high roads of the empire.
The square itself, and many parts of the city, were paved with a fine pebble.
^35 Through the heart of the capital ran a river of pure water, if it might
not be rather termed a canal, the banks or sides of which, for the distance of
twenty leagues, were faced with stone ^36 Across this stream, bridges,
constructed of similar broad flags, were thrown, at intervals, so as to afford
an easy communication between the different quarters of the capital. ^37

[Footnote 35: Ped. Sancho, Rel., ap. Ramusio, tom. III., ubi supra.

     A passage in the Letter of the Municipality of Xauxa is worth quoting,
as confirming on the best authority some of the interesting particulars
mentioned in the text.  'Esta cibdad es la mejor e maior que en la tierra se
ha visto, i aun en Yndias; e decimos a V. M. ques tan hermosa i de tan buenos
edeficios que en Espana seria muy de ver; tiene las calles por mucho
concierto en pedradas i por medio dellas un cano enlosado. la plaza es hecha
en cuadra i empedrada de quijas pequenas todas, todas las mas de las casas
son de Senores Principales hechas de canteria. esta en una ladera de un zerro
en el cual sobre el pueblo esta una fortaleza mui bien obrada de canteria,
tan de ver que por Espanoles que han andado Reinos estranos, dicen no haver
visto otro edeficio igual al della." Carta de la Just. y Reg. de Xauja, Ms.]

[Footnote 36: "Un rio, el cual baja por medio de la cibdad y desde que nace,
mas de veinte leguas por aquel valle abajo donde hay muchas poblaciones, va
enlosado todo por el suelo, y las varrancas de una parte y de otra hechas de
canteria labrada, cosa nunca vista, ni oida." Relacion del Primer. Descub.,
Ms.]

[Footnote 37: The reader will find a few repetitions in this chapter of what
I have already said, in the Introduction, of Cuzco under the Incas. But the
facts here stated are for the most part drawn from other sources, and some
repetition was unavoidable in order to give a distinct image of the capital.]

     The most sumptuous edifice in Cuzco, in the times of the Incas, was
undoubtedly the great temple dedicated to the Sun, which, studded with gold
plates, as already noticed, was surrounded by convents and dormitories for
the priests, with their gardens and broad parterres sparkling with gold.  The
exterior ornaments had been already removed by the Conquerors, - all but the
frieze of gold, which, imbedded in the stones, still encircled the principal
building.  It is probable that the tales of wealth, so greedily circulated
among the Spaniards, greatly exceeded the truth.  If they did not, the
natives must have been very successful in concealing their treasures from the
invaders.  Yet much still remained, not only in the great House of the Sun,
but in the inferior temples which swarmed in the capital.

     Pizarro, on entering Cuzco, had issued an order forbidding any soldier
to offer violence to the dwellings of the inhabitants. ^38 But the palaces
were numerous, and the troops lost no time in plundering them of their
contents, as well as in despoiling the religious edifices.  The interior
decorations supplied them with considerable booty.  They stripped off the
jewels and rich ornaments that garnished the royal mummies in the temple of
Coricancha.  Indignant at the concealment of their treasures, they put the
inhabitants, in some instances, to the torture, and endeavoured to extort
from them a confession of their hiding-places. ^39 They invaded the repose of
the sepulchres, in which the Peruvians often deposited their valuable
effects, and compelled the grave to give up its dead.  No place was left
unexplored by the rapacious Conquerors, and they occasionally stumbled on a
mine of wealth that rewarded their labors.

[Footnote 38: "Pues mando el marquez dar vn pregon que ningun espanol fuese
a entrar en las casas de los naturales o tomalles nada." Pedro Pizarro,
Descub. y Conq., Ms.]

[Footnote 39: Gomara, Hist. de las Ind., cap 123.]

     In a cavern near the city they found a number of vases of pure gold,
richly embossed with the figures of serpents, locusts, and other animals.
Among the spoil were four golden llamas and ten or twelve statues of women,
some of gold, others of silver, "which merely to see," says one of the
Conquerors, with some naivete, "was truly a great satisfaction." The gold was
probably thin, for the figures were all as large as life; and several of
them, being reserved for the royal fifth, were not recast, but sent in their
original form to Spain. ^40 The magazines were stored with curious
commodities; richly tinted robes of cotton and feather-work, gold sandals,
and slippers of the same material, for the women, and dresses composed
entirely of beads of gold. ^41 The grain and other articles of food, with
which the magazines were filled, were held in contempt by the Conquerors,
intent only on gratifying their lust for gold. ^42 The time came when the
grain would have been of far more value.

[Footnote 40: "Et fra l'altre cose singolari, era veder quattro castrati di
fin oro molto grandi, et 10 o 12 statue di done, della grandezza delle done di
quel paese tutte d'oro fino, cosi belle et ben fatte come se fossero viue.
. . . . . Queste furono date nel quinto che toccaua a S. M." (Ped. Sancho,
Rel., ap. Ramusio, tom. III fol.409.) "Muchas estatuas y figuras de oro y
plata enteras, hecha la forma toda de una muger, y del tamano della, muy bien
labradas." Relacion del Primer. Descub., Ms.]

[Footnote 41: "Avia ansi mismo miscmo otras muchas plumas de diferentes
colores para este efecto de hacer rropas que vestian los senores y senoras y
no otto otro en los tiempos de sus fiestas; avia tambien mantas hechas de
chaquira, de oro, y de plata, que heran vnas quentecitas muy delicadas, que
parecia cosa de espanto ver su hechura." Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.]

[Footnote 42: Ondegardo, Rel. Prim., Ms.]

     Yet the amount of treasure in the capital did not equal the sanguine
expectations that had been formed by the Spaniards.  But the deficiency was
supplied by the plunder which they had collected at various places on their
march.  In one place, for example, they met with ten planks or bars of solid
silver, each piece being twenty feet in length, one foot in breadth, and two
or three inches thick.  They were intended to decorate the dwelling of an
Inca noble. ^43

[Footnote 43: "Pues andando yo buscando mahiz o otras cosas para comer, acaso
entre en vn buhio donde halle estos tablones de plata que tengo dicho que
heran hasta diez y de largo tenian veinte pies y de anchor de vno y de gordor
de tres dedos, di noticia dello al marquez y el y todos los demas que con e.
estavan entraron a vello." Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.]

     The whole mass of treasure was brought into a common heap, as in
Caxamalca; and after some of the finer specimens had been deducted for the
Crown, the remainder was delivered to the Indian goldsmiths to be melted down
into ingots of a uniform standard.  The division of the spoil was made on the
same principle as before.  There were four hundred and eighty soldiers,
including the garrison of Xauxa, who were each to receive a share, that of
the cavalry being double that of the infantry.  The amount of booty is stated
variously by those present at the division of it.  According to some, it
considerably exceeded the ransom of Atahuallpa.  Others state it as less.
Pedro Pizarro says that each horseman got six thousand pesos de oro, and each
one of the infantry half that sum; ^44 though the same discrimination was made
by Pizarro as before, in respect to the rank of the parties, and their
relative services.  But Sancho, the royal notary, and secretary of the
commander, estimates the whole amount as far less, - not exceeding five
hundred and eighty thousand and two hundred pesos de oro, and two hundred and
fifteen thousand marks of silver. ^45 In the absence of the official returns,
it is impossible to determine which is correct.  But Sancho's narrative is
countersigned, it may be remembered, by Pizarro and the royal treasurer
Riquelme, and doubtless, therefore, shows the actual amount for which the
Conquerors accounted to the Crown.

[Footnote 44: Descub. y Conq., Ms.]

[Footnote 45: Ped. Sancho, Rel., ap. Ramusio, tom. III. fol. 409.]

     Whichever statement we receive, the sum, combined with that obtained at
Caxamalca, might well have satisfied the cravings of the most avaricious.
The sudden influx of so much wealth, and that, too, in so transferable a
form, among a party of reckless adventures little accustomed to the
possession of money, had its natural effect.  It supplied them with the means
of gaming, so strong and common a passion with the Spaniards, that it may be
considered a national vice.  Fortunes were lost and won in a single day,
sufficient to render the proprietors independent for life; and many a
desperate gamester, by an unlucky throw of the dice or turn of the cards, saw
himself stripped in a few hours of the fruits of years of toil, and obliged
to begin over again the business of rapine.  Among these, one in the cavalry
service is mentioned, named Leguizano, who had received as his share of the
booty the image of the Sun, which, raised on a plate of burnished gold,
spread over the walls in a recess of the great temple, and which, for some
reason or other, - perhaps because of its superior fineness, - was not recast
like the other ornaments.  This rich prize the spendthrift lost in a single
night; whence it came to be a proverb in Spain, Juega el Sol antes que
amanezca, "Play away the Sun before sunrise." ^46

[Footnote 46: Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 1 lib. 3, cap. 20]

     The effect of such a surfeit of the precious metals was instantly felt
on prices.  The most ordinary articles were only to be had for exorbitant
sums.  A quire of paper sold for ten pesos de oro; a bottle of wine, for
sixty; a sword, for forty or fifty; a cloak, for a hundred, - sometimes more;
a pair of shoes cost thirty or forty pesos de oro, and a good horse could not
be had for less than twenty-five hundred. ^47 Some brought a still higher
price.  Every article rose in value, as gold and silver, the representatives
of all, declined.  Gold and silver, in short, seemed to be the only things
in Cuzco that were not wealth.  Yet there were some few wise enough to return
contented with their present gains to their native country.  Here their
riches brought them consideration and competence, and, while they excited the
envy of their countrymen, stimulated them to seek their own fortunes in the
like path of adventure.

[Footnote 47: Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. III. p. 233.]