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Prescott, William Hickling, 1796-1859

"History of the Conquest of Peru; with a preliminary view of the civilization of the Incas"

"
Conq. i Pob. del Piru, Ms.]
Thus relieved of the presence of his rival, the governor returned
without further delay to the coast, to resume his labors in the
settlement of the country. Besides the principal city of "The
Kings,' he established others along the Pacific, destined to
become hereafter the flourishing marts of commerce. The most
important of these, in honor of his birthplace, he named
Truxillo, planting it on a site already indicated by Almagro. *32
He made also numerous repartimientos both of lands and Indians
among his followers, in the usual manner of the Spanish
Conquerors; *33 - though here the ignorance of the real resources
of the country led to very different results from what he had
intended, as the territory smallest in extent, not unfrequently,
from the hidden treasures in its bosom, turned out greatest in
value. *34
[Footnote 32: Carta de F. Pizarro a Molina, Ms.]
[Footnote 33: I have before me two copies of grants of
encomiendas by Pizarro, the one dated at Xauxa, 1534, the other
at Cuzco, 1539. - They emphatically enjoin on the colonist the
religious instruction of the natives under his care, as well as
kind and considerate usage. How ineffectual were the
recommendations may be inferred from the lament of the anonymous
contemporary often cited, that "from this time forth, the pest of
personal servitude was established among the Indians, equally
disastrous to body and soul of both the master and the slave.


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