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Prescott, William Hickling, 1796-1859

"History of the Conquest of Peru; with a preliminary view of the civilization of the Incas"

- Wise Reforms By Gasca. - He Returns To Spain. - His
Death And Character.
1548-1550.
It was now necessary to decide on the fate of the prisoners; and
Alonso de Alvarado, with the Licentiate Cianca, one of the new
Royal Audience, was instructed to prepare the process. It did
not require a long time. The guilt of the prisoners was too
manifest, taken, as they had been, with arms in their hands.
They were all sentenced to be executed, and their estates were
confiscated to the use of the Crown. Gonzalo Pizarro was to be
beheaded, and Carbajal to be drawn and quartered. No mercy was
shown to him who had shown none to others. There was some talk
of deferring the execution till the arrival of the troops in
Cuzco; but the fear of disturbances from those friendly to
Pizarro determined the president to carry the sentence into
effect the following day, on the field of battle. *1
[Footnote 1: The sentence passed upon Pizarro is given at length
in the manuscript copy of Zarate's History, to which I have had
occasion more than once to refer. The historian omitted it in
his printed work, but the curious reader may find it entire,
cited in the original, in Appendix, No. 14.]
When his doom was communicated to Carbajal, he heard it with his
usual indifference. "They can but kill me," he said, as if he
had already settled the matter in his own mind. *2 During the
day, many came to see him in his confinement; some to upbraid him
with his cruelties; but most, from curiosity to see the fierce
warrior who had made his name so terrible through the land.


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