Pizarro, on his part, was bound, in six months from the date of
the instrument, to raise a force, well equipped for the service,
of two hundred and fifty men, of whom one hundred might be drawn
from the colonies; and the government engaged to furnish some
trifling assistance in the purchase of artillery and military
stores. Finally, he was to be prepared, in six months after his
return to Panama, to leave that port and embark on his
expedition. *2
[Footnote 2: This remarkable document, formerly in the archives
of Simancas, and now transferred to the Archivo General de las
Indias in Seville, was transcribed for the rich collection of the
late Don Martin Fernandez de Navarrete, to whose kindness I am
indebted for a copy of it. - It will be found printed entire, in
the original, in Appendix, No. 7.]
Such are some of the principal provisions of this Capitulation,
by which the Castilian government, with the sagacious policy
which it usually pursued on the like occasions, stimulated the
ambitious hopes of the adventurer by high-sounding titles, and
liberal promises of reward contingent on his success, but took
care to stake nothing itself on the issue of the enterprise. It
was careful to reap the fruits of his toil, but not to pay the
cost of them.
A circumstance, that could not fail to be remarked in these
provisions, was the manner in which the high and lucrative posts
were accumulated on Pizarro, to the exclusion of Almagro, who, if
he had not taken as conspicuous a part in personal toil and
exposure, had, at least, divided with him the original burden of
the enterprise, and, by his labors in another direction, had
contributed quite as essentially to its success.
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