Spaniards, then, had been there before him, and, after all his
toil and suffering, others had forestalled him in the enterprise
against Quito! It is necessary to say a few words in explanation
of this.
When Pizarro quitted Caxamalca, being sensible of the growing
importance of San Miguel, the only port of entry then in the
country, he despatched a person in whom he had great confidence
to take charge of it. This person was Sebastian Benalcazar, a
cavalier who afterwards placed his name in the first rank of the
South American conquerors, for courage, capacity, - and cruelty.
But this cavalier had hardly reached his government, when, like
Alvarado, he received such accounts of the riches of Quito, that
he determined, with the force at his command, though without
orders, to undertake its reduction.
At the head of about a hundred and forty soldiers, horse and
foot, and a stout body of Indian auxiliaries, he marched up the
broad range of the Andes, to where it spreads out into the
table-land of Quito, by a road safer and more expeditious than
that taken by Alvarado. On the plains of Riobamba, he
encountered the Indian general Ruminavi. Several engagements
followed, with doubtful success, when, in the end, science
prevailed where courage was well matched, and the victorious
Benalcazar planted the standard of Castile on the ancient towers
of Atahuallpa. The city, in honor of his general, Francis
Pizarro, he named San Francisco del Quito.
Pages:
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598