treme, and felt sure that all engaged in the
enterprise would miserably perish. Eagerly he caught at the idea of
sending De Soto to join them; for his presence was to Don Pedro a
constant source of annoyance and dread. He therefore caused the
communication from Pizarro to be conveyed to De Soto, saying to the
messenger who bore it:

"Urge De Soto to depart immediately for Peru. And I pray Heaven that
we may never hear of him again."

De Soto, not knowing what to do with himself, imprudently consented,
and thus allied his fortunes with those of one of the greatest
villains of any age or country.

CHAPTER V.

_The Invasion of Peru._

The Kingdom of Peru.--Its Metropolis.--The Desperate
Condition of Pizarro.--Arrival of De Soto.--Character of the
Spaniards.--Exploring tour of De Soto.--The Colony at San
Miguel.--The General Advance.--Second Exploration of De
Soto.--Infamous Conduct of the Pizarros.

The kingdom of Peru, skirting the western coast of South America,
between the majestic peaks of the Andes and the mirrored waters of the
Pacific Ocean, was one of the most beautiful countries in the world.
This kingdom, diversified with every variety of scenery, both of the
sublime and the beautiful, and enjoying a delicious climate, was about
eighteen hundred miles in length and one hundred and fifty in breadth.
The natives had attained a high degree of civilization. Though
gunpowder, steel armor, war horses, and bloodhounds gave the barbarian
Spaniards the supremacy on fields of blood, the leading men, among the
Peruvians, seem to have been in intelligence, humanity and every
virtue, far superior to the savage leaders of the Spaniards, who so
ruthlessly invaded their peaceful realms.

The metropolis of the empire was the city of Cuzo, which was situated
in a soft and luxuriant valley traversing some table-lands which were
about twelve thousand feet above the level of the sea. The government
of the country was an absolute monarchy. But its sovereign, called the
Inca, seems to have been truly a good man, the father of his people;
wisely and successfully seeking their welfare. The Peruvians had
attained a degree of excellence in many of the arts unsurpassed by the
Spaniards. Their houses were generally built of stone; their massive
temples, though devoid of architectural beauty, were constructed of
hewn blocks of granite, so admirably joined together that the seams
could be with difficu