The claims of the
new aspirant were fully recognized; and young Almagro, parading
the streets on horseback, and escorted by a well-armed body of
cavaliers, was proclaimed by sound of trumpet governor and
captain-general of Peru.
Meanwhile, the mangled bodies of Pizarro and his faithful
adherents were left weltering in their blood. Some were for
dragging forth the governor's corpse to the market-place, and
fixing his head upon a gibbet. But Almagro was secretly prevailed
on to grant the entreaties of Pizarro's friends, and allow his
interment. This was stealthily and hastily performed, in the
fear of momentary interruption. A faithful attendant and his
wife, with a few black domestics, wrapped the body in a cotton
cloth and removed it to the cathedral. A grave was hastily dug
in an obscure corner, the services were hurried through, and, in
secrecy, and in darkness dispelled only by the feeble glimmering
of a few tapers furnished by these humble menials, the remains of
Pizarro, rolled in their bloody shroud, were consigned to their
kindred dust. Such was the miserable end of the Conqueror of
Peru, - of the man who but a few hours before had lorded it over
the land with as absolute a sway as was possessed by its
hereditary Incas. Cut off in the broad light of day, in the
heart of his own capital, in the very midst of those who had been
his companions in arms and shared with him his triumphs and his
spoils, he perished like a wretched outcast.
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