It was still on his fire-arms, however, that he
chiefly relied. As the ranks were formed, he rode among them,
encouraging his men to do their duty like brave cavaliers, and
true soldiers of the Conquest. Pizarro was superbly armed, as
usual, and wore a complete suit of mail, of the finest
manufacture, which, as well as his helmet, was richly inlaid with
gold. *25 He rode a chestnut horse of great strength and spirit,
and as he galloped along the line, brandishing his lance, and
displaying his easy horsemanship, he might be thought to form no
bad personification of the Genius of Chivalry. To complete his
dispositions, he ordered Cepeda to lead up the infantry; for the
licentiate seems to have had a larger share in the conduct of his
affairs of late, or at least in the present military
arrangements, than Carbajal. The latter, indeed, whether from
disgust at the course taken by his leader, or from a distrust,
which, it is said, he did not affect to conceal, of the success
of the present operations, disclaimed all responsibility for
them, and chose to serve rather as a private cavalier than as a
commander. *26 Yet Cepeda, as the event showed, was no less
shrewd in detecting the coming ruin.
[Footnote 25: "Iba mui galan, i gentil hombre sobre vn poderoso
caballo castano, armado de Cota, i Coracinas ricas, con vna sobre
ropa de Raso bien golpeada, i vn Capacete de Oro en la cabeca,
con su barbote de lo mismo." Gomara, Hist. de as Indias, cap.
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