Cuzco; A Journey to the Ancient Capital of Peru - With an Account of the History, Language, Literature, and Antiquities of the Incas, and Lima: A Visit to the Capital and Provinces of Modern Peru; With a Sketch of the Viceregal Governm... #264828

There are few more attractive periods of history, than that which treats of the adventures of the lawless conquerors of the New World, who shattered at a blow the fabrics of stately empires, and so utterly prostrated the once thriving civilised communities of Peru, Mexico, and Bogota, that a century after the arrival of the Spaniards, scarce a vestige of them remained.<br><br>Their origin, obscured by the mist of ages, their rise comparatively rapid, and their fall sudden, and for ever.<br><br>In the masterly pages of Prescott have been recorded, in glowing language, the deeds of those stony-hearted warriors who uprooted them; and every one knows the history of Cortez and Montezuma, of the courageous Quatimozin, of Pizarro and his strangled victim, and all the wonderful, almost incredible tales of Spanish prowess.