But this state of things, however
favorable to the ingenuity of the artist, is not very propitious
to the advancement of the art; and there can be little doubt that
the weapons thus made by the soldiers of Blasco Nunez were of the
most rude and imperfect construction.
[Footnote 16: This retreat of Blasco Nunez may undoubtedly
compare, if not in duration, at least in sharpness of suffering,
with any expedition in the New World, - save, indeed, that of
Gonzalo Pizarro himself to the Amazon. The particulars of it may
be found, with more or less amplification, in Zarate, Conq. del
Peru, lib. 5, cap. 19, 29. - Carta de Gonzalo Pizarro a Valdivia,
Ms. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 7, lib. 9, cap. 20-26. -
Fernandez, Hist. del Peru, Parte 1, lib. 1, cap. 40, et seq. -
Relacion de los Sucesos del Peru, Ms - Relacion Anonima, Ms. -
Montesions, Annales, Ms., ano 1545.]
[Footnote 17: "Proveio, que se tragese alli todo el hierro que se
pudo haver en la Provincia, i busco Maestros, hico aderecar
Fraguas, i en breve tiempo se forjaron en ellas docien tos
Arcabuces, con todos sus aparejos." Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib.
5, cap 34.]
As week after week rolled away, Gonzalo Pizarro, though fortified
with the patience of a Spanish soldier, felt uneasy at the
protracted stay of Blasco Nunez in the north, and he resorted to
stratagem to decoy him from his retreat. He marched out of Quito
with the greater part of his forces, pretending that he was going
to support his lieutenant in the south, while he left a garrison
in the city under the command of Puelles, the same officer who
had formerly deserted from the viceroy.
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