With
this landmark always in view, the navigator had little need of
star or compass to guide his bark on her course.
As soon as the tempest had subsided, Pizarro stood in again for
the continent, touching at the principal points as he coasted
along. Everywhere he was received with the same spirit of
generous hospitality; the natives coming out in their balsas to
welcome him, laden with their little cargoes of fruits and
vegetables, of all the luscious varieties that grow in the tierra
caliente. All were eager to have a glimpse of the strangers, the
"Children of the Sun," as the Spaniards began already to be
called, from their fair complexions, brilliant armour, and the
thunderbolts which they bore in their hands. *22 The most
favorable reports, too, had preceded them, of the urbanity and
gentleness of their manners, thus unlocking the hearts of the
simple natives, and disposing them to confidence and kindness.
The iron-hearted soldier had not yet disclosed the darker side of
his character. He was too weak to do so. The hour of Conquest
had not yet come.
[Footnote 22: "Que resplandecian como el Sol. LIamabanles hijos
del Sol por esto." Montesinos, Annales, Ms., ano 1528.]
In every place Pizarro received the same accounts of a powerful
monarch who ruled over the land, and held his court on the
mountain plains of the interior, where his capital was depicted
as blazing with gold and silver, and displaying all the profusion
of an Oriental satrap.
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