Cortes and Pizarro: Stories of the Conquests of Mexico and Peru, with a Sketch of the Early Adventures of the Spaniards in the New World ; Re-told for Youth |
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adventurers Aguilar Almagro Alvarado Anahuac arms army arrived Atahuallpa attack Aztecs Balboa battle brave brigantines brother brought cacique camp capital captains causeway cavalry chief Christians coast colony Columbus command conquerors conquest Cortes countrymen court Cuba Cuzco death discovery Doña Marina emperor empire enemy expedition fear fell fight fortress friends Gasca gold Gonzalo Gonzalo Pizarro governor Guatemozin hands head heard Hernando Pizarro Hispaniola honour horses Huascar Huayna Capac Inca Indians island Juan king land latter Manco Manco Capac Marquis ment Mexicans Mexico monarch Montezuma Narvaez natives night nobles officers Ojeda once ordered palace Panama party passed Peru Peruvians priest prince prisoners promised quarters received replied retreat rich royal sail Sandoval seized sent ships soldiers sovereign Spain Spaniards Spanish speedily stones sword temple terrible Tezcuco tion Tlascalans told took town troops Velasquez Vera Cruz vessels victory Villa Rica voyage warriors wounded Xicotencatl
Popular passages
Page 322 - he said, ' on that side are toil, hunger, nakedness, the drenching storm, desertion, and death; on this side, ease and pleasure. There lies Peru with its riches; here Panama and its poverty. Choose, each man, what best becomes a brave Castilian. For my part, I go to the south.
Page 164 - In the centre of the great basin were beheld the lakes, occupying then a much larger portion of its surface than at present, their borders thickly studded with towns and hamlets ; and in the midst — like some Indian empress with her coronal of pearls — the fair city of Mexico, with her white towers and pyramidal temples, reposing, as it were, on the bosom of the waters — the far-famed 'Venice of the Aztecs.
Page 163 - Tenochtitlan, as more commonly called by the natives ; which, with its picturesque assemblage of water, woodland, and cultivated plains, its shining cities and shadowy hills, was spread out like some gay and gorgeous panorama before them. In the highly rarefied atmosphere of these upper regions, even remote objects have a brilliancy of colouring and a distinctness of outline which seem to annihilate distance.
Page 109 - Hither the inhabitants of the capital flocked, to witness the consummation of the ceremony. As the sad procession wound up the sides of the pyramid, the unhappy victim threw away his gay chaplets of flowers, and broke in pieces the musical instruments with which he had solaced the hours of captivity. On the summit he was received by six priests, whose long and matted locks flowed disorderly over their sable robes, covered with hieroglyphic scrolls of mystic import. They led him to the sacrificial...
Page 279 - Cortes was filled with admiration at the proud bearing of the young barbarian, showing in his reverses a spirit worthy of an ancient Roman. " Fear not," he replied, " you shall be treated with all honour. You have defended your capital like a brave warrior. A Spaniard knows how to respect valour even in an enemy.
Page 60 - And is it thus you part from me!" exclaimed Velasquez; "a courteous way of taking leave, truly!" "Pardon me," answered Cortes, "time presses, and there are some things that should be done before they are even thought of. Has your Excellency any commands?
Page 13 - Sanchez, and the rest who had landed, he took solemn possession in the name of the Castilian sovereigns, giving the island the name of San Salvador. Having complied with the requisite forms and ceremonies, he called upon all present to take the oath of obedience to him, as admiral and viceroy, representing the persons of the sovereigns.* The feelings of the crew now burst forth in the most extravagant transports.
Page 178 - ... before the idol was a pan of incense with three hearts of human victims, which were then burning, mixed with copal. The whole of that apartment, both walls and floor, was stained with human blood, in such quantity as to give a very offensive smell.
Page 40 - They assured him that, far to the north, there existed a land abounding in gold and in all manner of delights ; but, above all, possessing a river of such wonderful virtue, that whoever bathed in it would be restored to youth ! They added, that in times past, before the arrival of the Spaniards, a large party of the natives of Cuba had departed northward in search of this happy land and this river of life, and, having never returned, it was concluded...
Page 372 - The friar, greatly scandalized by the indignity offered to the sacred volume, stayed only to pick it up, and, hastening to Pizarro, informed him of what had been done, exclaiming at the same time, " Do you not see, that, while we stand here wasting our breath in talking with this dog, full of pride as he is, the fields are filling with Indians? Set on at once ! I absolve you.