840 / 1070
806
Royal
Commentarier.
BooK
V.
fame; and that they had heard whac
Diego Fernande2;,,
relates , how chac he aligh–
ted, and lene
Pi¡arro
his Horfe, and helped him
to
gec up. And to undeceive
che World in chis particular; my Farher ( afrer che Batee! of
Sacfahuana )
gave
infonnation before che Jufüce by an Officer of che Exchequer, and with the Te–
fümony ofcwemy cwo Wirneffes, a\l of
Centeno's
Parcy, wfo declared, chat ac
che
time when
Pi¡arro
defüed my Father's horfe, there was not one man of
Centeno's
Army
1\
1
ithin half a league of him; and thac the Wound which
Pi
1
arro's
horíe
had received was
fo
inconóderable, thar notwithílanding the farne, he miglu have
fought that whole day upon him if occaíion had been.
I haye heard it alfo re–
ported, thac
Pifarro's
horfe was cut over the huckfons or hamfiringed, as
Fra'tlti–
fco·de Vlloa's
horfe was; bue it was a falfe repon and informacion; as it was alfo,
chat the horfe recovere
d, andyet dyed twenry two leagues diílant frorn che
_place of Battel ; but the
tru.this , the horfe dyed for want of diet and go'od go–
vernment: for chough c
he Farrier who took care of
Pii¡arro
ílables, called
Me–
fcutt,
a Native of
Guada!axara
(
wirh whom
I
was acquaimed ) did uíe to give
chat horfe water a little warmed, and therein Rower of
May:,;,, :
ytt che Groom
forgoc
to
give chac in charge to che
Inditin
who led che
horle
well covered and
warmly cloched againíl che exceffive colds of'
tl1Jt
Coumrey ': and che
IndMii,
not
kno1,ying el.e rules which che Farrier had given, fuffered tht; horfe ·co drink, as
he
was pailing a brook, as much water as,he pleafed, with whi h being prefently
caken wi:th a chilnefs, he fell imo a fhivering, and dyed four leagues froín thac
water.
Thus che Hiílorians had fome grounds,to write what they did concerning my
Facher, afld I had reafon to give a truer informacion ; not to excufe my Farher in
hopes of favour or reward , bue out of affeétion
to
truth it felf.
As ro the Of–
fence which is objeéted againíl: my Lord
Garfilaf{o ,
I have been punifhed and
done penance for it, rhough
I
committed nocche Crime.
For \~ hen
I
carne to
pecition
his
Majeíly for fome reward for rhe fe vices of my Father; and thar in
conóderation chereof che Eílace which carne by my Mocher mighc be reílored to
us,
which by che excinguiíhrnent of cwo Lives was efcheated
to
the King: which
when
I
had prefemed befor-e che.Royal Cquncil of che
Indies,
and rnade it appear
how greac che Cervices of my Father had been : and thac chofe Lords were con–
vinced ofthe clearnefs ofmy pretenfions; yec
Licenciado Lope Garcit1 de C¡:,Jlro(who
was afcerwardsmade Preíidenc of
Peru)
being chen in che Chair, asked me, what
reward
I
could expeét che King íhould give me ? conÍtdering that che fervices rny
Father had done for
Pi
1
tirro
at che Batee! of
Huarina
were fuch as had given him
che Viétory. And when
I
replyed, chat che information was abfolaceJy falfe;
How, faid he, can you deny chat which all Wricers of thefe matters do affirm?
And therewich rhey excluded me from al! pretenfions , noc onely on a1::counc
of
my
Facher's fervices, bue of my owo. And though
I
had many merics on my
own fcore ro alledge, yec
I
could noc procure
to
be heard :
for
I
could have re–
Iaced, howI had ferved under
Don
A
lonfo Ferntindn de Cordoua
and
Fig11eroa,
under
M arquú de Priego,
Chief of the family of
Aguilar,
under
Don Francifco de Cordoua
( who is now in Heaven) and fecond Son
to
thac Greac
Don Martín de Cordoua,
Counc of
A{caudete,
Lord of
Monte-mayor,
and Caprain General of
Oran.
I
have
alfo
fi
rved his Majeíly in quality of Capcain of four feveral Cornpanies; cwo of
which were in che time of
Philip
the fecood of glorious memory ; and che orher
two under his brother
Don rohn of Aujlria,
now alfo in Heaven , who were pka–
fed as ' fignals of cheir favours to gratifie' me therewirh; not that
I
pretend to
have rnericed thern from thac Prince; bue onely his Highnéfs obferving in me a
readinefs of rnind and affeét-ion to ferve hirn , accepted rny endearnurs and
was
pleafed ro recommend me to his Brocher. ,. And yec nocwithíl:anding fo prevaleoc
were cbe prejudices
I
lay under, chac
I
dur~ ,neicher revive my old precenóons nor
alledge triy larer fervices: for which reafons, being caíl1iered che Arm}1,
•I
was
fo
poor and naked in cloches, and fo indebted, tbac
I
duríl noc recuro again
to
che
Cqurt, bue retired rny felf inco an obfcure,comer of folicude and poverty, where
(as
I
declared in my Preamble to che Hiílory of
Florid4)
I
paífed a quiet anda peace–
able life, as a man loofe and difengaged from che World , and che mutability ,
wichout hoRes or greac expeétations : and indeed
I
have no reafon
for
ir, becaufe
the beíl pare o( my life
is
paífed already, and for che future God
will
provide,
as he hath h¡cherto dón.e. Pardon
me
this irnpertinenc digreffion, ro which my
.troubles and oppreffi9us have cranfported me; for ic may well be allowed
10
me,
who