may make for himself, humanity will never
forgive him for the carnage of that day. Having thus fairly embarked
upon this enterprise, where he was surely gaining military renown,
infamous as it was, and where there was the prospect before him of
plunder of incalculable worth, De Soto seems to have assumed to act
upon his own responsibility, and to have paid very little regard to
the authority of Pizarro, whom he had left behind. He had already
penetrated the country much farther than he had been authorized to do
by the orders of his superior. One of the men, whom Pizarro had sent
with him, very probably as a spy upon his movements, deserted, and
returned to Tumbez with the report that De Soto was already
practically in revolt, and had renounced all dependence on Pizarro.
For this alleged insubordination, Pizarro did not venture to call his
energetic lieutenant to account.

In the mean time, Pizarro was exploring the country in the vicinity of
Tumbez, for the site of the colony he wished to establish. He selected
a position about ninety miles south of that city, in a rich and
well-watered valley which opened upon the placid surface of the
Pacific. His troops were transported to the spot by the two vessels.
Here he laid the foundations of a town, which he called San Miguel.
With timber from the mountains, and stone from the quarries, and the
labor of a large number of natives, who were driven to daily toil,
not as servants, by the stimulus of well-paid labor, but as slaves,
goaded by the sabres of their task masters, quite a large and
strongly-fortified town rapidly arose.

De Soto continued his explorations in the interior for some time, and
discovered a very magnificent highway, leading to the capital of the
empire. It was smoothly paved with flat blocks of stone, or with
cement harder than stone. He returned to San Miguel with the report of
his discoveries, and quite richly laden with the gold which he had
received as a present from the natives, or which he had seized as what
he considered the lawful spoils of war. The sight of the gold inspired
all the Spaniards at San Miguel with the intense desire to press
forward into a field which promised so rich a harvest.

It was ascertained that the Inca had command of an army of over fifty
thousand men. Pizarro, leaving sixty men in garrison at San Miguel,
set out with one hundred and ninety men to visit the Inca in his
capital. De Soto accompanied him. It was not ostensibl