CHAPTER XI.
THE SPANIARDS IN PERU—CONTINUED.
For gold the Spaniard cast his soul away:
His gold and he were every nation's prey.—Montgomery.
The three speculators of Panama had made up their band of mercenaries, or what the Scotch very expressively term "rank rievers," to plunder the Peruvians. These consisted of one hundred and eighty men, thirty of whom were horsemen. These were all they could raise; and these were sufficient, as experience had now testified, to enable them to overrun a vast empire of Americans. Almagro, however, remained behind, to gather more spoilers together as soon as circumstances would permit, and Pizarro took the command, of his troop, and landed in the Bay of St. Matthew, in the north of the kingdom. He resolved to conduct his march southward so near to the coast as to keep up the communication with his vessels; and falling upon the peaceable inhabitants, he went on fighting, fording rivers, wading through hot sands, and inflicting so many miseries upon his own followers and the natives, as made him look more like an
