]
Pizarro's person has been already described. He was tall in
stature, well-proportioned, and with a countenance not
unpleasing. Bred in camps, with nothing of the polish of a
court, he had a soldier-like bearing, and the air of one
accustomed to command. But though not polished, there was no
embarrassment or rusticity in his address, which, where it served
his purpose, could be plausible and even insinuating. The proof
of it is the favorable impression made by him, on presenting
himself, after his second expedition - stranger as he was to all
its forms and usages - at the punctilious court of Castile.
Unlike many of his countrymen, he had no passion for ostentatious
dress, which he regarded as an incumbrance. The costume which he
most affected on public occasions was a black cloak, with a white
hat, and shoes of the same color; the last, it is said, being in
imitation of the Great Captain, whose character he had early
learned to admire in Italy, but to which his own, certainly, bore
very faint resemblance. *22
[Footnote 22: Gomara, Hist. de las Ind., cap. 144. - Zarate,
Conq. del Peru. lib. 4, cap. 9.
The portrait of Pizarro, in the viceregal palace at Lima,
represents him in a citizen's dress, with a sable cloak, - the
capa y espada of a Spanish gentleman. Each panel in the spacious
sala de los Vireyes was reserved for the portrait of a viceroy.
The long file is complete, from Pizarro to Pezuela; and it is a
curious fact, noticed by Stevenson, that the last panel was
exactly filled when the reign of the viceroys was abruptly
terminated by the Revolution.
Pages:
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777