Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/594

574 Castellanos of gold and 362 marks of silver, and of the infantry eighty received each 4,440 Castellanos of gold and 180 marks of silver, and the remainder, twenty-five in number, most of them 3,330 Castellanos of gold and 135 marks of silver each. Servants and underlings received a smaller amount. The church of San Francisco, which had been erected as a testimonial of gratitude to that divine providence which had so highly favored their unrighteous cause, was endowed with 22,220 Castellanos. Fifteen thousand Castellanos were sent to the colonists of San Miguel, and 120,000 were assigned to Almagro and his company.

Departing from Caxamalca the Spaniards entered Cuzco, the imperial city of the incas, on the 15th of November. Although rifled in a measure of its precious ornaments for the ransom of Atahualpa, there remained much which yet lay exposed to the cupidity of the soldiers. The palaces and sacred edifices were again plundered; the royal mummies deposited in the great temple of Coricancha, which had hitherto been respected by the Spaniards, were stripped as were also the sepulchres. Valuables which had been removed to a place of fancied security were unearthed. Not far from the city was found a cavern from which were brought forth golden vases and finely wrought imitations of insects, reptiles, and animals. Among the articles collected in the city were several female statues, life-size, of pure though thin gold, also golden llamas, slippers and sandals of gold, and female dresses made wholly of beads of gold. On their way thither the conquerors had added greatly to their store of wealth. Ten solid silver planks, each twenty feet in length, one foot in width, and from two to three inches in thickness, were found in one place. It is supposed that these huge bars were intended to be used in the construction of a dwelling for some Peruvian prince.

After completing their work of plunder in the