- Garcilasso, Com. Real., Parte 2, lib. 3, cap. 15. - Herrera,
Hist. General, dec. 7, lib. 3, cap. 14.
The last historian, in dismissing his account of the expedition,
passes a panegyric on the courage and constancy of his
countrymen, which we must admit to be well deserved.
"Finalmente, Goncalo Picarro entro en el Quito, triunfando del
valor, i sufrimiento, i de la constancia, recto, e immutable
vigor del animo, pues Hombres Humanos no se hallan haver tanto
sufrido ni padecido tantas desventuras.' Ibid., ubi supra.]
The few Christian inhabitants of the place, with their wives and
children, came out to welcome their countrymen. They ministered
to them all the relief and refreshment in their power; and, as
they listened to the sad recital of their sufferings, they
mingled their tears with those of the wanderers. The whole
company then entered the capital, where their first act - to
their credit be it mentioned - was to go in a body to the church,
and offer up thanksgivings to the Almighty for their miraculous
preservation through their long and perilous pilgrimage. *16 Such
was the end of the expedition to the Amazon; an expedition which,
for its dangers and hardships, the length of their duration, and
the constancy with which they were endured, stands, perhaps,
unmatched in the annals of American discovery.
[Footnote 16: Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 4, cap. 5.]
Chapter V
The Almagro Faction. - Their Desperate Condition. - Conspiracy
Against Francisco Pizarro.
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