he returned to Panama, accompanied by Ferdinand, Juan, and Gonzalo Pizarro, and Francisco Martin de Alcantara, his brothers.  Ferdinand and Juan Pizarro were his brothers both by father and mother, and the only lawful sons of Gonzalo Pizarro, an inhabitant of Truxillo in Old Spain, a captain in the infantry regiment of Navarre:  Don Francisco Pizarro himself and Gonzalo Pizarro were natural sons of the elder Gonzalo Pizarro by different mothers:  Francisco de Alcantara was likewise the brother of Don Francisco Pizarro, by his mother only, but by a different father[10].  Besides these, Pizarro brought as many men from Spain to assist in his enterprize as he could procure, being mostly inhabitants of Truxillo and other places in Estremadura[11].

On his arrival at Panama in 1530, Pizarro and his associates used every effort to complete the preparations for the enterprize; but at first a dispute arose between him and Almagro.  The latter complained that Pizarro had only attended to his own interests when at the court of Spain, having procured the appointments of governor and president of Peru for himself, without making any mention of Almagro, or at least without having procured any office for him, who had borne the far greater proportion of the expences hitherto incurred.  Pizarro alleged that the king had refused to give any office to Almagro, though solicited by him for that purpose:  But engaged his word to renounce the office of president in his behalf, and to supplicate the king to bestow that appointment upon him.  Almagro was appeased by this concession; and they proceeded to make every preparation in concert that might be conducive to the success of the undertaking.  But, before entering upon the narrative of their actions, it seems proper to give some account of the situation of Peru, of the most remarkable things which it contains, and of the manners and customs of the inhabitants.

The country of Peru, of which this history is intended to treat, commences at the equator, and extends south towards the antarctic pole[12].  The people who inhabit in the neighbourhood of the equator have swarthy complexions; their language is extremely guttural; and they are addicted to unnatural vices, for which reason they care little for their women and use them ill[13], The women wear their hair very short, and their whole clothing consists of a short petticoat, covering only from the waist to about the knees.  By the women only is the grain cultivated, and by them it is bruised or ground to meal, and baked.  This grain, called maize in the West-Indian Islands, is called Zara in the language of Peru[14].  The men wear a kind of shirts or jackets without sleeves, which only reach to the navel, and do not cover the parts of shame.  They wear their hair short, having a kind of tonsure on their crowns, almost like monks.  They have no other dress or covering, yet pride themselves on certain ornaments of gold hanging from their ears