Adopting the policy of Cortes, he pushed directly for the capital Cuzco, where they managed to seize Atahualpa, the Inca of the time.

He attempted to ransom himself by agreeing to fill the room in which he was confined, twenty-two feet long by sixteen wide, with bars of gold as high as the hand could reach.
He carried out this prodigious promise, and Pizarro's companions found themselves in possession of booty equal to three millions sterling.
Atahualpa was, however, not released, but condemned to death on a frivolous pretext, while Pizarro dismissed his followers, fully confident that the wealth they carried off would attract as many men as he could desire to El Dorado.

He settled himself at Lima, near the coast, in 1534.

Meanwhile Almegro had been despatched south, and made himself master of Chili.

Another expedition in 1539 was conducted by Pizarro's brother Gonzales across the Andes, and reached the sources of the Amazon, which one of his companions, Francisco de Orellana, traversed as far as the mouth.