The Beautiful Blonde Liked Emeralds 113
his bride, notably several emeralds carved in the shape of a fish, a hunting horn, a bell and a small cup.
These gems excited the admiration of the Court ladies", says Prescott again (this time in his Conquest of Mexico), and,
perhaps unfortunately for Cortes, the desire of his queen, Isabella.
"The queen of Charles the Fifth, it is said —it may be the idle gossip
of a Court—had intimated a willingness to become proprietor of some of
these magnificent baubles; and the preference which Cortes gave to his
fair bride caused some feelings of estrangement in the royal bosom,
which had an unfavourable influence on the future fortunes of the
marquess."
Feelings
of estrangement are easily produced in royal bosoms, and it is
therefore not impossible that emeralds brought about the downfall of
the conqueror of Mexico, just as in his time they lured on the
conqueror of Peru.
There
is a footnote to this mention of Pizarro in Peru. The morning after I
had written the foregoing passage I opened my morning paper and read
this letter from a correspondent:
"Sir,
"Your
correspondent is wrong in believing that the Inca treasure designated
'Big Fish' is buried beneath Cuzco. In 1575 a direct descendant, or
cacique, of the Chimu dynasty, which was destroyed by the Inca
conquerors 200 years before, still lived in the ancient Chimu capital
near to what is now known as Trujillo on the coast. A young Spaniard,
trading as a pedlar between Lima and
