CHAPTER LXXXIX

    How the captains Felipe Gutiérrez and Diego de Rojas set out from Cuzco on their expedition of conquest.

IT will be well, now that the wars of Las Salinas and of Chupas are bygones, while the time has not yet come for those of Quito and Huarina, and the others which were fought in the Realm, that we should continue our history by relating the things that happened, for I have set myself the task of giving an account of them to my country. Yet my mind is so confused in trying to comprehend the affairs which we yet have to deal with, and my body so aweary through the long journeys and protracted vigils I have passed through, that I certainly need divine help to complete the great undertaking that I have in hand.

My condition is like it was during the expeditions I took part in, when climbing great and rugged mountains so lofty that their summits were lost in the clouds and the scud that accompanied them. At times, when I saw myself in the midst of the ascent, I used to feel so fagged that it was very difficult for me to reach the top; and on turning to gaze beneath me it seemed as if the deep ravines must reach down into the inferno. So in my exhausted state I prayed to God to give me strength to pass onward. Looking back at what I have written since 1523 down to the present time, and realizing how voluminous the writing has been, as well as the much that remains to be finished, I am[315] in still greater trouble than I was in the mountains. For were I to finish off here what is begun, the work would be incomplete; while, if I go on, my judgment is so weak, and my head so vacuous that I know not how I shall be able to do it. But reflecting, as the Philosopher says, that some men must attempt great deeds and worship lofty ideals, the commoner sort being open to all, I will go on, while praying to God to give me strength, and invoking the aid of His most holy Mother; and I will finish the work, or perish in the attempt.

We have already said that the Governor Vaca de Castro appointed the captain Felipe Gutiérrez to be the leader of an exploring party to the region lying to the northward of the famous river of La Plata and the Strait of Magellan, and the captain Diego de Rojas to remain as Governor of the first city they might found; and that he named Nicolás de Heredia, jointly with these, as Camp-master. As, in this empire of the Indies, there had been great trouble, owing to the death of those in command, Vaca de Castro desired that his Majesty's interest should not suffer in such a contingency this time. So he provided that, if it should please God to take Felipe Gutiérrez, the command should vest in the two, and, if one of them died, the other should remain in charge. There were great reports of a river called Arauco, on the borders of Chile, and the intention was to explore in that direction. As soon as the captains received their commissions, they busied themselves in enlisting men, and soon got 130 Spaniards together, horse and foot. To provide for them, besides the help given by Vaca de Castro, they all three laid out as much money as they could provide. For Ensign-general they had Hurtado, for captain Pedro López de Ayala, for royal officer Rodrigo de Cantos. Among them, too, was the spirited youth Diego Alvarez, who was afterwards Ensign-general at the rout of Huarina. When all things were ready, Diego de Rojas set[316] out for the valley of Chiquana[150] with sixty Spaniards, where he decided to wait for the General Felipe Gutiérrez, and the Camp-master Nicolás de Heredia. So Diego de Rojas departed, and marched until he reached that valley, where he learnt from the local Indians that there were large native settlements farther on and that the Indians thereabouts had many Spanish fowls. These were derived from the Spaniards who went out from Spain by command of his Majesty to explore the river of La Plata, taking Don Pedro de Mendoza with them as Governor, and who went through many wonderful experiences, concerning which I will not write.

Now let the reader please observe what a deal there is for us to understand in the affairs of Peru. A very particular friend of mine has told me that I ought to give information respecting the great rivers Uriaparia and Mara?ón, and this one of La Plata. I answered him that if it should please God to give me grace to get through with the itinerary of my journeys I would write a special book for him on those subjects; but that at present I am concerned with the true account of men who in those days were engaged in discoveries, and must therefore leave the reader to find in that one what is here wanting. For the purpose of pursuing this, our work, there is no need to state more than that the Spaniards who accompanied Mendoza had but recently come from Spain, and did not understand the ways of the New World, nor what men have to surmount there; so that many of them died. The survivors, after their Governor's death, were gentlemen and men of honour, for death takes more quickly those of low degree than the noble; and these pushed on inland from the east side, traversing many regions and great provinces, until at last they came out very near to the town of Plata, as we will[317] relate farther on. As the ships that had landed them on the coast left some of the fowls I have mentioned, our two explorers were able to procure some, and the natives, finding that they were profitable, and dainty eating, bred so many that they became distributed and increased far and wide, and thus it was that Diego de Rojas came to hear about them. As these Indians were such romancers, they exaggerated the reports of that country, saying that the Christians who went there were very fortunate, and that the land was very rich in gold and silver of its own production. The Spaniards, hearing these things, besought Diego de Rojas to leave the eastern[151] road, which led towards the river Arauco, and to make for the part mentioned by the Indians, so that in a short time they might perchance find themselves in a country where all would become rich. Diego de Rojas, eager for discovery, was overjoyed on hearing the words of those who wanted to go that way, and decided to do so.