Their own existence, and with it the
safety of the army and the success of the undertaking, depended
on this course. In the place were to remain the royal treasurer,
the veedor, or inspector of metals, and other officers of the
crown; and the command of the garrison was intrusted to the
contador, Antonio Navarro. *7 Then putting himself at the head of
his troops, the chief struck boldly into the heart of the country
in the direction where, as he was informed, lay the camp of the
Inca. It was a daring enterprise, thus to venture with a handful
of followers into the heart of a powerful empire, to present
himself, face to face, before the Indian monarch in his own camp,
encompassed by the flower of his victorious army! Pizarro had
already experienced more than once the difficulty of maintaining
his ground against the rude tribes of the north, so much inferior
in strength and numbers to the warlike legions of Peru. But the
hazard of the game, as I have already more than once had occasion
to remark, constituted its great charm with the Spaniard. The
brilliant achievements of his countrymen, on the like occasions,
with means so inadequate, inspired him with confidence in his own
good star, and this confidence was one source of his success.
Had he faltered for a moment, had he stopped to calculate
chances, he must inevitably have failed; for the odds were too
great to be combated by sober reason. They were only to be met
triumphantly by the spirit of the knight-errant.
Pages:
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411