es, was carried on the
shoulders of his principal attendants. Several bands of singers and
dancers accompanied the procession; and the whole plain was covered
with troops, more than 30,000 men.

After engaging in a religious dispute with the Inca, who refused to
acknowledge the authority of the Pope and threw the breviary on the
ground, the Spanish chaplain exclaimed indignantly that the Word of God
had been insulted by a heathen.

Pizarro instantly gave the signal of assault: the martial music
struck up, the cannon and muskets began to fire, the horse rallied
out fiercely to the charge, the infantry rushed on sword in hand.
The Peruvians, astonished at the suddenness of the attack, dismayed
with the effect of the firearms and the irresistible impression of
the cavalry, fled with universal consternation on every side.
Pizarro, at the head of his chosen band, soon penetrated to the
royal seat, and seizing the Inca by the arm, carried him as a
prisoner to the Spanish quarters.

For his ransom Atahualpa agreed to pay a weight of gold amounting to
more than five millions sterling.

Instead of keeping faith with the Inca by restoring him to liberty,
Pizarro basely allowed him to be tried on several false charges and
condemned to be burned alive.

After hearing of the enormous ransom many Spaniards hurried from
Guatemala, Panama, and Nicaragua to share in the newly discovered booty
of Peru, the "land of gold." Pizarro, therefore, being now greatly
reenforced with soldiers, forced his way to Cuzco, the capital. The
riches found there exceeded in value what had been received as
Atahualpa's ransom.

As Governor of Peru, Pizarro chose a new site for his capital, nearer
the coast than Cuzco, and there founded Lima. It is now a great center
of trade. Pizarro lived here in great state till the year 1542, when his
fate reached him by means of a party of conspirators seeking to avenge
the death of Almagro, his former rival, whom he had cruelly executed as
a traitor. On Sunday, June 26th, at midday, while all Lima was quiet
under the siesta, the conspirators passed unobserved through the two
outer courts of the palace, and speedily despatched the
soldier-adventurer, intrepidly defending himself with a sword and
buckler. "A deadly thrust full in the throat," and the tale of daring
Pizarro was told.

_Raro antecedentem scelestum_
_Deseruit pede Poena claudo._