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$Title{History Of The Conquest Of Peru
Chapter V: Part II}
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$Author{Prescott, William H.}
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$Date{1864}
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Title:       History Of The Conquest Of Peru
Book:        Book III: Conquest Of Peru
Author:      Prescott, William H.
Date:        1864

Chapter V: Part II

     Meanwhile the fight, or rather massacre, continued hot around the Inca,
whose person was the great object of the assault.  His faithful nobles,
rallying about him, threw themselves in the way of the assailants, and
strove, by tearing them from their saddles, or, at least, by offering their
own bosoms as a mark for their vengeance, to shield their beloved master.
It is said by some authorities, that they carried weapons concealed under
their clothes.  If so, it availed them little, as it is not pretended that
they used them.  But the most timid animal will defend itself when at bay.
That they did not so in the present instance is proof that they had no
weapons to use. ^22 Yet they still continued to force back the cavaliers,
clinging to their horses with dying grasp, and, as one was cut down, another
taking the place of his fallen comrade with a loyalty truly affecting.

[Footnote 22: The author of the Relacion del Primero Descubrimiento speaks
of a few as having bows and arrows, and of others as armed with silver and
copper mallets or maces, which may, however, have been more for ornament than
for service in fight. - Pedro Pizarro and some later writers say that the
Indians brought thongs with them to bind the captive white men. - Both
Hernando Pizarro and the secretary Xerez agree that their only arms were
secreted under their clothes; but as they do not pretend that these were
used, and as it was announced by the Inca that he came without arms, the
assertion may well be doubted, - or rather discredited.  All authorities
without exception, agree that no attempt was made at resistance.]

     The Indian monarch, stunned and bewildered, saw his faithful subjects
falling round him without fully comprehending his situation.  The litter on
which he rode heaved to and fro, as the mighty press swayed backwards and
forwards; and he gazed on the overwhelming ruin, like some forlorn mariner,
who, tossed about in his bark by the furious elements, sees the lightning's
flash and hears the thunder bursting around him with the consciousness that
he can do nothing to avert his fate.  At length, weary with the work of
destruction, the Spaniards, as the shades of evening grew deeper, felt afraid
that the royal prize might, after all, elude them; and some of the cavaliers
made a desperate attempt to end the affray at once by taking Atahuallpa's
life.  But Pizarro, who was nearest his person, called out with Stentorian
voice, "Let no one, who values his life, strike at the Inca"; ^23 and,
stretching out his arm to shield him, received a wound on the hand from one
of his own men, - the only wound received by a Spaniards in the action. ^24
[Footnote 23: "El marquez dio bozes diciendo.  Nadie hiera al indio so pena
de la vida." Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.]

[Footnote 24: Whatever discrepancy exists among the Castilian accounts in
other respects, all concur in this remarkable fact, - that no Spaniard,
except their general, received a wound on that occasion. Pizarro saw in this
a satisfactory argument for regarding the Spaniards, this day, as under the
especial protection of Providence.  See Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia,
tom. III. p. 199.]

     The struggle now became fiercer than ever round the royal litter.  It
reeled more and more, and at length, several of the nobles who supported it
having been slain, it was overturned, and the Indian prince would have come
with violence to the ground, had not his fall been broken by the efforts of
Pizarro and some other of the cavaliers, who caught him in their arms.  The
imperial borla was instantly snatched from his temples by a soldier named
Estete, ^25 and the unhappy monarch, strongly secured, was removed to a
neighbouring building, where he was carefully guarded.

[Footnote 25: Miguel Estete, who long retained the silken diadem as a trophy
of the exploit, according to Garcilasso de la Vega, (Com. Real., Parte 2,
lib. 1, cap. 27,) an indifferent authority for any thing in this part of his
history.  This popular writer, whose work, from his superior knowledge of the
institutions of the country, has obtained greater credit, eve in what relates
to the Conquest, than the reports of the Conquerors themselves, has indulged
in the romantic vein to an unpardonable extent, in his account of the capture
of Atahuallpa.  According to him, the Peruvian monarch treated the invaders
from the first with supreme deference, as descendants of Viracocha, predicted
by his oracles as to come and rule over the land.  But if this flattering
homage had been paid by the Inca, it would never have escaped the notice of
the Conquerors.  Garcilasso had read the Commentaries of Cortes, as he
somewhere tells us; and it is probable that that general's account, well
founded, it appears, of a similar superstition among the Aztecs suggested to
the historian the idea of a corresponding sentiment in the Peruvians, which,
while it flattered the vanity of the Spaniards, in some degree vindicated his
own countrymen from the charge of cowardice, incurred by their too ready
submission; for, however they might be called on to resist men, it would have
been madness to resist the decrees of Heaven. Yet Garcilasso's romantic
version has something in it so pleasing to the imagination, that it has even
found favor with the majority of readers.  The English student might have met
with a sufficient corrective in the criticism of the sagacious and skeptical
Robertson.]

     All attempt at resistance now ceased.  The fate of the Inca soon spread
over town and country.  The charm which might have held the Peruvians
together was dissolved.  Every man thought only of his own safety.  Even the
soldiery encamped on the adjacent fields took the alarm, and, learning the
fatal tidings, were seen flying in every direction before their pursuers, who
in the heat of triumph showed no touch of mercy.  At length night, more
pitiful than man, threw her friendly mantle over the fugitives, and the
scattered troops of Pizarro rallied once more at the sound of the trumpet in
the bloody square of Caxamalca.

     The number of slain is reported, as usual, with great discrepancy.
Pizarro's secretary says two thousand natives fell. ^26 A descendant of the
Incas - a safer authority than Garcilasso - swells the number to ten
thousand. ^27 Truth is generally found somewhere between the extremes.  The
slaughter was incessant, for there was nothing to check it.  That there
should have been no resistance will not appear strange, when we consider the
fact, that the wretched victims were without arms, and that their senses must
have been completely overwhelmed by the strange and appalling spectacle which
burst on them so unexpectedly.  "What wonder was it," said an ancient Inca
to a Spaniard, who repeats it, "what wonder that our countrymen lost their
wits, seeing blood run like water, and the Inca, whose person we all of us
adore, seized and carried off by a handful of men?" ^28 Yet though the
massacre was incessant, it was short in duration.  The whole time consumed
by it, the brief twilight of the tropics, did not much exceed half an hour;
a short period, indeed, - yet long enough to decide the fate of Peru, and to
subvert the dynasty of the Incas.

[Footnote 26: Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. III. p. 199.]

[Footnote 27: "Los mataron a todos con los Cavallos con espadas con arcabuzes
como quien mata ovejas - sin hacerles nadie resistencia que no se escaparon
de mas de diez mil, doscientos," Instruc. del Inga Titucussi, Ms.

     This document, consisting of two hundred folio pages, is signed by a
Peruvian Inca, grandson of the great Huayna Capac, and nephew, consequently,
of Atahuallpa.  It was written in 1570, and designed to set forth to his
Majesty Philip II. the claims of Titucussi and the members of his family to
the royal bounty.  In the course of the Memorial, the writer takes occasion
to recapitulate some of the principal events in the latter years of the
empire; and though sufficiently prolix to tax even the patience of Philip
II., it is of much value as an historical document, coming from one of the
royal race of Peru.]

[Footnote 28: Montesinos, Annales, Ms., ano 1532.

     According to Naharro, the Indians were less astounded by the wild uproar
caused by the sudden assault of the Spaniards, though "this was such that it
seemed as if the very heavens were falling," than by a terrible apparition
which appeared in the air during the onslaught.  It consisted of a woman and
a child, and, at their side, a horseman all clothed in white on a milk-white
charger, - doubtless the valiant St. James, - who, with his sword glancing
lightning, smote down the infidel host, and rendered them incapable of
resistance.  This miracle the good father reports on the testimony of three
of his Order, who were present in the action, and who received it from
numberless of the natives.  Relacion Sumaria, Ms.]

     That night Pizarro kept his engagement with the Inca, since he had
Atahuallpa to sup with him.  The banquet was served in one of the halls
facing the great square, which a few hours before had been the scene of
slaughter, and the pavement of which was still encumbered with the dead
bodies of the Inca's subjects.  The captive monarch was placed next his
conqueror.  He seemed like one who did not yet fully comprehend the extent
of his calamity.  If he did, he showed an amazing fortitude.  "It is the
fortune of war," he said; ^29 and, if we may credit the Spaniards, he
expressed his admiration of the adroitness with which they had contrived to
entrap him in the midst of his own troops. ^30 He added, that he had been made
acquainted with the progress of the white men from the hour of their landing;
but that he had been led to undervalue their strength from the insignificance
of their numbers.  He had no doubt he should be easily able to overpower
them, on their arrival at Caxamalca, by his superior strength; and, as he
wished to see for himself what manner of men they were, he had suffered them
to cross the mountains, meaning to select such as he chose for his own
service, and, getting possession of their wonderful arms and horses, put the
rest to death. ^31

[Footnote 29: "Diciendo que era uso de Guerra vencer, i ser vencido."
Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 5, lib. 2, cap. 12.]

[Footnote 30: "Haciendo admiracion de la traza que tenia hecha." Relacion del
Primer. Descub., Ms.]

[Footnote 31: "And in my opinion," adds the Conqueror who reports the speech,
"he had good grounds for believing he could do this, since nothing but the
miraculous interposition of Heaven could have saved us." Ibid., Ms.]

     That such may have been Atahuallpa's purpose is not improbable.  It
explains his conduct in not occupying the mountain passes, which afforded
such strong points of defence against invasion.  But that a prince so astute,
as by the general testimony of the Conquerors he is represented to have been,
should have made so impolitic a disclosure of his hidden motives is not so
probable.  The intercourse with the Inca was carried on chiefly by means of
the interpreter Felipillo, or little Philip, as he was called, from his
assumed Christian name, - a malicious youth, as it appears, who bore no
good-will to Atahuallpa, and whose interpretations were readily admitted by
the Conquerors, eager to find some pretext for their bloody reprisals.

     Atahuallpa, as elsewhere notice, was, at this time, about thirty years
of age.  He was well made, and more robust than usual with his countrymen.
His head was large, and his countenance might have been called handsome, but
that his eyes, which were bloodshot, gave a fierce expression to his
features.  He was deliberate in speech, grave in manner, and towards his own
people stern even to severity; though with the Spaniards he showed himself
affable, sometimes even indulging in sallies of mirth. ^32

[Footnote 32: Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. III. p. 203.]

     Pizarro paid every attention to his royal captive, and endeavoured to
lighten, if he could not dispel, the gloom which, in spite of his assumed
equanimity, hung over the monarch's brow.  He besought him not to be case
down by his reverses, for his lot had only been that of every prince who had
resisted the white men.  They had come into the country to proclaim the
gospel, the religion of Jesus Christ; and it was no wonder they had
prevailed, when his shield was over them.  Heaven had permitted that
Atahuallpa's pride should be humbled, because of his hostile intentions
towards the Spaniards, and the insults he had offered to the sacred volume.
But he bade the Inca take courage and confide in him, for the Spaniards were
a generous race, warring only against those who made war on them, and showing
grace to all who submitted! ^33 - Atahuallpa may have thought the massacre of
that day an indifferent commentary on this vaunted lenity.
[Footnote 33: "Nosotros vsamos de piedad con nuestros Enemigos vencidos, i
no hacemos Guerra, sino a los que nos la hacen, i pudiendolos destruir no lo
hacemos, antes los perdona mos." Ibid., tom. III. p. 199.]

     Before retiring for the night, Pizarro briefly addressed his troops on
their present situation.  When he had ascertained that not a man was wounded,
he bade them offer up thanksgivings to Providence for so great a miracle;
without its care, they could never have prevailed so easily over the host of
their enemies; and he trusted their lives had been reserved for still greater
things.  But if they would succeed, they had much to do for themselves.  They
were in the heart of a powerful kingdom, encompassed by foes deeply attached
to their own sovereign.  They must be ever on their guard, therefore, and be
prepared at any hour to be roused from their slumbers by the call of the
trumpet. ^34 - Having then posted his sentinels, placed a strong guard over
the apartment of Atahuallpa, and taken all the precautions of a careful
commander, Pizarro withdrew to repose; and, if he could really feel, that,
in the bloody scenes of the past day, he had been fighting only the good
fight of the Cross, he doubtless slept sounder than on the night preceding
the seizure of the Inca.

[Footnote 34: Ibid., ubi supra. - Pedro Pizarro, Descub. i. Conq., Ms.]

     On the following morning, the first commands of the Spanish chief were
to have the city cleansed of its impurities; and the prisoners, of whom there
were many in the camp, were employed to remove the dead, and give them decent
burial.  His next care was to despatch a body of about thirty horse to the
quarters lately occupied by Atahuallpa at the baths, to take possession of
the spoil, and disperse the remnant of the Peruvian forces which still hung
about the place.

     Before noon, the party which he had detached on this service returned
with a large troop of Indians, men and women, among the latter of whom were
many of the wives and attendants of the Inca.  The Spaniards had met with no
resistance; since the Peruvian warriors, though so superior in number,
excellent in appointments, and consisting mostly of able-bodied young men,
- for the greater part of the veteran forces were with the Inca's generals
at the south, - lost all heart from the moment of their sovereign's
captivity.  There was no leader to take his place; for they recognized no
authority but that of the Child of the Sun, and they seemed to be held by a
sort of invisible charm near the place of his confinement; while they gazed
with superstitious awe on the white men, who could achieve so audacious an
enterprise. ^35

[Footnote 35: From this time, says Ondegardo, the Spaniards, who hitherto had
been designated as the "men with beards," barbudos, were called by the
natives, from their fair-complexioned deity, Viracochas.  The people of
Cuzco, who bore no goodwill to the captive Inca, "looked upon the strangers,"
says the author, "as sent by Viracocha himself." (Rel. Prim., Ms.) It reminds
us of a superstition, or rather an amiable fancy, among the ancient Greeks,
that "the stranger came from Jupiter."]

     The number of Indian prisoners was so great, that some of the Conquerors
were for putting them all to death, or, at least, cutting off their hands,
to disable them from acts of violence, and to strike terror into their
countrymen. ^36 The proposition, doubtless, came from the lowest and most
ferocious of the soldiery.  But that it should have been made at all shows
what materials entered into the composition of Pizarro's company.  The chief
rejected it at once, as no less impolitic than inhuman, and dismissed the
Indians to their several homes, with the assurance that none should be harmed
who did not offer resistance to the white men.  A sufficient number, however,
were retained to wait on the Conquerors, who were so well provided, in this
respect, that the most common soldier was attended by a retinue of menials
that would have better suited the establishment of a noble. ^37

[Footnote 36: "Algunos fueron de opinion, que matasen a todos los Hombres de
Guerra, o les cortasen las manos." Xerez, Hist. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom.
III. p. 200.]

[Footnote 37: "Cada Espanol de los que alli ivan tomaron para si mui gran
cantidad tanto que como andava todo a rienda suelta havia Espanol que tenia
docientas piezas de Indios Indias de servicio." Conq. i. Pob. del Piru, Ms.]

     The Spaniards had found immense droves of llamas under the care of their
shepherds in the neighbourhood of the baths, destined for the consumption of
the Court.  Many of them were now suffered to roam abroad among their native
mountains; though Pizarro caused a considerable number to be reserved for the
use of the army.  And this was no small quantity, if, as one of the
Conquerors says, a hundred and fifty of the Peruvian sheep were frequently
slaughtered in a day. ^38 Indeed, the Spaniards were so improvident in their
destruction of these animals, that, in a few years, the superb flocks,
nurtured with so much care by the Peruvian government, had almost disappeared
from the land. ^39

[Footnote 38: "Se matan cada Dia, ciento i cinquenta." Xerez, Conq. del Peru,
ap. Barcia, tom. III. p. 202.]

[Footnote 39: Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. 80. - Ondegardo, Rel. Seg., Ms.

     "Hasta que los destruian todos sin haver Espanol ni Justicia que lo
defendiese ni amparase." Conq. i Pob. del Piru, Ms.]

     The party sent to pillage the Inca's pleasure house brought back a rich
booty in gold and silver, consisting chiefly of plate for the royal table,
which greatly astonished the Spaniards by their size and weight.  These, as
well as some large emeralds obtained there, together with the precious spoils
found on the bodies of the Indian nobles who had perished in the massacre,
were placed in safe custody, to be hereafter divided.  In the city of
Caxamalca, the troops also found magazines stored with goods, both cotton and
woollen, far superior to any they had seen, for fineness of texture, and the
skill with which the various colors were blended.  They were piled from the
floors to the very roofs of the buildings, and in such quantity, that, after
every soldier had provided himself with what he desired, it made no sensible
diminution of the whole amount. ^40

[Footnote 40: Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. III. p. 200.

     There was enough, says the anonymous Conqueror, for several ship-loads.
"Todas estas cosas de tiendas y ropas de lana y algodon eran en tan gran
cantidad, que a mi parecer fueran menester muchos navios en que supieran."
Relacion del Primer. Descub., Ms.]

     Pizarro would now gladly have directed his march on the Peruvian capital.
But the distance was great, and his force was small.  This must have been
still further crippled by the guard required for the Inca, and the chief
feared to involve himself deeper in a hostile empire so populous and powerful,
with a prize so precious in his keeping.  With much anxiety, therefore, he
looked for reinforcements from the colonies; and he despatched a courier to
San Miguel, to inform the Spaniards there of his recent successes, and to
ascertain if there had been any arrival from Panama. Meanwhile he employed his
men in making Caxamalca a more suitable residence for a Christian host, by
erecting a church, or, perhaps, appropriating some Indian edifice to this use,
in which mass was regularly performed by the Dominican fathers, with great
solemnity.  The dilapidated walls of the city were also restored in a more
substantial manner than before, and every vestige was soon effaced of the
hurricane that had so recently swept over it.

     It was not long before Atahuallpa discovered, amidst all the show of
religious zeal in his Conquerors, a lurking appetite more potent in most of
their bosoms than either religion or ambition.  This was the love of gold. He
determined to avail himself of it to procure his own freedom.  The critical
posture of his affairs made it important that this should not be long delayed.
His brother Huascar, ever since his defeat, had been detained as a prisoner,
subject to the victor's orders.  He was now at Andamarca, at no great distance
from Caxamalca; and Atahuallpa feared, with good reason, that, when his own
imprisonment was known, Huascar would find it easy to corrupt his guards, make
his escape, and put himself at the head of the contested empire, without a
rival to dispute it.

     In the hope, therefore, to effect his purpose by appealing to the avarice
of his keepers, he one day told Pizarro, that, if he would set him free, he
would engage to cover the floor of the apartment on which they stood with
gold.  Those present listened with an incredulous smile; and, as the Inca
received no answer, he said, with some emphasis, that "he would not merely
cover the floor, but would fill the room with gold as high as he could reach";
and, standing on tiptoe, he stretched out his hand against the wall. All
stared with amazement; while they regarded it as the insane boast of a man too
eager to procure his liberty to weigh the meaning of his words.  Yet Pizarro
was sorely perplexed.  As he had advanced into the country, much that he had
seen, and all that he had heard, had confirmed the dazzling reports first
received of the riches of Peru.  Atahuallpa himself had given him the most
glowing picture of the wealth of the capital, where the roofs of the temples
were plated with gold, while the walls were hung with tapestry and the floors
inlaid with tiles of the same precious metal.  There must be some foundation
for all this.  At all events, it was safe to accede to the Inca's proposition;
since, by so doing, he could collect, at once, all the gold at his disposal,
and thus prevent its being purloined or secreted by the natives.  He therefore
acquiesced in Atahuallpa's offer, and, drawing a red line along the wall at
the height which the Inca had indicated, he caused the terms of the proposal
to be duly recorded by the notary.  The apartment was about seventeen feet
broad, by twenty-two feet long, and the line round the walls was nine feet
from the floor. ^41 This space was to be filled with gold; but it was
understood that the gold was not to be melted down into ingots, but to retain
the original form of the articles into which it was manufactured, that the
Inca might have the benefit of the space which they occupied.  He further
agreed to fill an adjoining room of smaller dimensions twice full with silver,
in like manner; and he demanded two months to accomplish all this. ^42

[Footnote 41: I have adopted the dimensions given by the secretary Xerez,
(Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. III. p. 202.) According to Hernando Pizarro,
the apartment was nine feet high, but thirty-five feet long by seventeen or
eighteen feet wide.  (Carta, Ms.) The most moderate estimate is large enough.

     Stevenson says that they still show "a large room, part of the old
palace, and now the residence of the Cacique Astopilca, where the ill-fated
Inca was kept a prisoner"; and he adds that the line traced on the wall is
still visible.  (Residence in South America, vol. II. p. 163.) Peru abounds in
remains as ancient as the Conquest; and it would not be surprising that the
memory of a place so remarkable as this should be preserved, - though any
thing but a memorial to be cherished by the Spaniards.]

[Footnote 42: The facts in the preceding paragraph are told with remarkable
uniformity by the ancient chroniclers.  (Conf. Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq.,
Ms. - Carta de Hern. Pizarro, Ms. - Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, ubi
supra. - Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, Ms. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 2, cap.
6. - Gomara, Hist. de las Ind., cap. 114. - Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 5,
lib. 2, cap. 1.)

     Both Naharro and Herrera state expressly that Pizarro promised the Inca
his liberation on fulfilling the compact.  This is not confirmed by the other
chroniclers, who, however, do not intimate that the Spanish general declined
the terms.  And as Pizarro, by all accounts, encouraged his prisoner to
perform his part of the contract, it must have been with the understanding
implied, if not expressed, that he would abide by the other.  It is most
improbable that the Inca would have stripped himself of his treasures, if he
had not so understood it.]

     No sooner was this arrangement made, than the Inca despatched couriers
to Cuzco and the other principal places in the kingdom, with orders that the
gold ornaments and utensils should be removed from the royal palaces, and
from the temples and other public buildings, and transported without loss of
time to Caxamalca.  Meanwhile he continued to live in the Spanish quarters,
treated with the respect due to his rank, and enjoying all the freedom that
was compatible with the security of his person.  Though not permitted to go
abroad, his limbs were unshackled, and he had the range of his own apartments
under the jealous surveillance of a guard, who knew too well the value of the
royal captive to be remiss.  He was allowed the society of his favorite
wives, and Pizarro took care that his domestic privacy should not be
violated.  His subjects had free access to their sovereign, and every day he
received visits from the Indian nobles, who came to bring presents, and offer
condolence to their unfortunate master.  On such occasions, the most potent
of these great vassals never ventured into his presence, without first
stripping off their sandals, and bearing a load on their backs in token of
reverence.  The Spaniards gazed with curious eyes on these acts of homage,
or rather of slavish submission, on the one side, and on the air of perfect
indifference with which they were received, as a matter of course, on the
other; and they conceived high ideas of the character of a prince who, even
in his present helpless condition, could inspire such feelings of awe in his
subjects.  The royal levee was so well attended, and such devotion was shown
by his vassals to the captive monarch, as did not fail, in the end, to excite
some feelings of distrust in his keepers. ^43

[Footnote 43: Relacion del Primer. Descub., Ms. - Naharro, Relacion Sumaria,
Ms. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru lib. 2, cap. 6.]

     Pizarro did not neglect the opportunity afforded him of communicating
the truths of revelation to his prisoner, and both he and his chaplain,
Father Valverde, labored in the same good work.  Atahuallpa listened with
composure and apparent attention.  But nothing seemed to move him so much as
the argument with which the military polemic closed his discourse, - that it
could not be the true God whom Atahuallpa worshipped, since he had suffered
him to fall into the hands of his enemies.  The unhappy monarch assented to
the force of this, acknowledging that his Deity had indeed deserted him in
his utmost need. ^44

[Footnote 44: "I mas dijo Atabalipa, que estaba espantado de lo que el
Governador le havia dicho: que bien conocia que aquel que hablaba en su
Idolo, no es Dios verdadero pues tan poco le aiudo." Xerez Conq. del Peru,
ap. Barcia, tom. III. p. 203.]

     Yet his conduct towards his brother Huascar, at this time, too clearly
proves, that, whatever respect he may have shown for the teachers, the
doctrines of Christianity had made little impression on his heart.  No sooner
had Huascar been informed of the capture of his rival, and of the large
ransom he had offered for his deliverance, than, as the latter had foreseen,
he made every effort to regain his liberty, and sent, or attempted to send,
a message to the Spanish commander, that he would pay a much larger ransom
than that promised by Atahuallpa, who, never having dwelt in Cuzco, was
ignorant of the quantity of treasure there, and where it was deposited.

     Intelligence of all this was secretly communicated to Atahuallpa by the
persons who had his brother in charge; and his jealousy, thus roused, was
further heightened by Pizarro's declaration, that he intended to have Huascar
brought to Caxamalca, where he would himself examine into the controversy,
and determine which of the two had best title to the sceptre of the Incas.
Pizarro perceived, from the first, the advantages of a competition which
would enable him, by throwing his sword into the scale he preferred, to give
it a preponderance.  The party who held the sceptre by his nomination would
henceforth be a tool in his hands, with which to work his pleasure more
effectually than he could well do in his own name.  It was the game, as every
reader knows, played by Edward the First in the affairs of Scotland, and by
many a monarch, both before and since, - and though their examples may not
have been familiar to the unlettered soldier, Pizarro was too quick in his
perceptions to require, in this matter, at least, the teachings of history.

     Atahuallpa was much alarmed by the Spanish commander's determination to
have the suit between the rival candidates brought before him; for he feared,
that, independently of the merits of the case, the decision would be likely
to go in favor of Huascar, whose mild and ductile temper would make him a
convenient instrument in the hands of his conquerors.  Without further
hesitation, he determined to remove this cause of jealousy for ever, by the
death of his brother.

     His orders were immediately executed, and the unhappy prince was
drowned, as was commonly reported, in the river of Andamarca, declaring with
his dying breath that the white men would avenge his murder, and that his
rival would not long survive him. ^45 - Thus perished the unfortunate Huascar,
the legitimate heir of the throne of the Incas, in the very morning of life,
and the commencement of his reign; a reign, however, which had been long
enough to call forth the display of many excellent and amiable qualities,
though his nature was too gentle to cope with the bold and fiercer temper of
his brother.  Such is the portrait we have of him from the Indian and
Castilian chroniclers, though the former, it should be added, were the
kinsmen of Huascar, and the latter certainly bore no goodwill to
Atahuallpa. ^46

[Footnote 45: Both the place and the manner of Huascar's death are reported
with much discrepancy by the historians.  All agree in the one important
fact, that he died a violent death at the instigation of his brother.  Conf.
Herrera, Hist. General, dec. 5, lib. 3, cap. 2. - Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap.
Barcia, tom. III. p. 204. - Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Naharro,
Relacion Sumaria, Ms. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 2, cap. 6. - Instruc.
del Inga Titucussi, Ms.]

[Footnote 46: Both Garcillaso de la Vega and Titucussi Yupanqui were
descendants from Huayna Capac, of the pure Peruvian stock, the natural
enemies, therefore, of their kinsman of Quito, whom they regarded as a
usurper.  Circumstances brought the Castilians into direct collision with
Atahuallpa, and it was natural they should seek to darken his reputation by
contrast with the fair character of his rival.]

     That prince received the tidings of Huascar's death with every mark of
surprise and indignation.  He immediately sent for Pizarro, and communicated
the event to him with expressions of the deepest sorrow.  The Spanish
commander refused, at first, to credit the unwelcome news, and bluntly told
the Inca, that his brother could not be dead, and that he should be
answerable for his life. ^47 To this Atahuallpa replied by renewed assurances
of the fact, adding that the deed had been perpetrated, without his privity,
by Huascar's keepers, fearful that he might take advantage of the troubles
of the country to make his escape.  Pizarro, on making further inquiries,
found that the report of his death was but too true.  That it should have
been brought about by Atahuallpa's officers, without his express command,
would only show, that, by so doing, they had probably anticipated their
master's wishes.  The crime, which assumes in our eyes a deeper dye from the
relation of the parties, had not the same estimation among the Incas, in
whose multitudinous families the bonds of brotherhood must have sat loosely,
- much too loosely to restrain the arm of the despot from sweeping away any
obstacle that lay in his path.

[Footnote 47: "Sabido esto por el Gobernador, mostro, que el pesaba mucho: i
dijo que era mentira, que no le havian muerto, que lo trujesen luego vivo: i
sino, que el mandaria matar a Atabalipa." Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia,
tom. III. p. 204.]