The first discussion between Tumbes' curaca and the Spanish contingent was recorded for posterity by Pizarro's secretary, Francisco de Xeres, in The Conquest of Peru.
He [the curaca] asked the captain where were they from, what land they had come from, and what were they looking for, or what was their purpose in going by seas and land without stopping? Francisco Pizarro replied that they had come from Spain, where they were native, and that in that land there was a great and powerful king called Charles, whose vassal and servants they were, and many others because he ruled wide territories. They had left their land to explore these parts, as they could see, and to place what they found under their king's authority, but primarily, and above all, to let them know that the idols they worshiped were false, and that to save their souls, they have to become Christians and believe in the God the Spanish worshiped.
Pizarro would not give up his quest.
Historian Carmen Bernand writes in The Incas: People of the Sun that Pizarro drew a line in the sand with his sword, saying, “Comrades and friends, on this side lie poverty, hunger, effort, torrential rains, and privation. On that side lies pleasure. On this side, we return to Panama and poverty. On that side, we become rich.”
Thirteen chose to follow Pizarro’s path to promised wealth, and they would not be disappointed. For seven months, they lived as castaways, going hungry, suffering enervating heat and debilitating malaria and dysentery. They did not know that farther to the south, the Inca Empire had greater wealth in gold, silver, and gems than any of them had seen before. And they would gain that wealth with surprising ease.
Pizarro’s partner, Almagro, finally sent a ship to pick up the remaining members of the expedition. Pizarro, desperate to see the land of riches that had been described to him by local people and the traders on the raft, declared that the group would sail southward. Their arrival in the coastal village of Tumbes, near the Ecuadoran border, fascinated the townsfolk. Cronista Pedro de Cieza de Leon, who was on the ship, wrote in Chronicle of Peru, “When the indigenous people saw the ship coming on
The sea, they were amazed, as this was something they had never seen before.” The Spaniards were given a warm welcome, feted as honored guests, and treated with graciousness. The local cu-raca sent chasquis with a message to the sapa inca, Huascar, telling of the arrival of strangers in the Inca land.
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