The houses were usually built of
stone, to which were added the various public offices, and
sometimes a fortress. A municipal corporation was organized.
Settlers were invited by the distribution of large tracts of land
in the neighbourhood, with a stipulated number of Indian vassals
to each. The soldiers then gathered there, sometimes accompanied
by their wives and families; for the women of Castile seem to
have disdained the impediments of sex, in the ardor of conjugal
attachment, or, it may be, of romantic adventure. A populous
settlement rapidly grew up in the wilderness, affording
protection to the surrounding territory, and furnishing a
commercial depot for the country, and an armed force ready at all
times to maintain public order.
Such a settlement was that now made at Guamanga, midway between
Cuzco and Lima, which effectually answered its purpose by
guarding the communications with the coast. *27 Another town was
founded in the mining district of Charcas, under the appropriate
name of the Villa de la Plata, the "City of Silver." And Pizarro,
who journeyed by a circuitous route along the shores of the
southern sea towards Lima, established the city of Arequipa,
since arisen to such commercial celebrity.
[Footnote 27: Cieza de Leon notices the uncommon beauty and
solidity of the buildings at Guamanga. "La qual han edificado
las mayores y mejores casas que ay en todo el Peru, todas de
piedra, ladrillo, y teja, con grandes torres: de manera que no
falta aposentos.
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