Volume Iv Part 17 (1/2)

Early in the morning of the 16th November 1532, Pizarro drew up his small body of men in regular order. Dividing his cavalry into three bodies, under the command of his three brothers, Ferdinand, Juan, and Gonzalo, a.s.sisted by the Captains Soto and Benalcazar, he ordered to keep themselves concealed within their quarters till they should receive orders to attack. He remained himself at the head of the infantry, in another part of the inclosed court, having issued the strictest commands that no one should make the smallest motion without his orders, which were to be conveyed by the discharge of the artillery.

Atahualpa employed a great part of the day in arranging his troops in order of battle, pointing out to each of the commanders where and in what manner their divisions were to attack the Spaniards. He likewise sent a detachment of 5000 Peruvian warriors under one of his princ.i.p.al officers named Ruminagui, with orders to take possession of the defile by which the Spaniards had penetrated the mountain, and to kill every one of them who might endeavour to escape in that way[12]. Atahualpa having given all these orders, began his march and advanced so slowly that in four hours his army hardly proceeded a short league. He was carried in his litter in the usual state, on the shoulders of some of the princ.i.p.al lords of his court, having three hundred Indians marching before him in rich uniforms, who removed every stone or other substance which might obstruct the way, even carefully picking up the smallest straws. He was followed by a numerous train of curacas or caciques, and princ.i.p.al officers of his court, all carried in litters. The Peruvians held the Spaniards in small estimation, they were so few in number, and imagined they could easily make them all prisoners without presuming to make the smallest resistance.

One of the caciques had sent to inform Atahualpa not to stand in any awe of the Spaniards, as they were not only few in number, but so effeminate and lazy that they were unable to march on foot without being tired by a very short distance, for which reason they travelled on the backs of _large sheep_, by which name they distinguished our horses.

In the order already described, Atahualpa entered with all his army and attendants into a large square or enclosure in front of the _tambos_ or palace of Caxamarca; and seeing the Spaniards so few in number and all on foot, as the cavalry remained in concealment, he conceived that they would not certainly dare to stand before him or to resist his commands. Rising up therefore in his litter, be said to his attendants, ”These people are all in our power, and will a.s.suredly surrender.” To which they all answered that this was certainly the case. At this time, the bishop Don Vincente Valverde advanced towards Atahualpa, holding a crucifix in one hand and his breviary in the other, and addressed him to the following effect.

”There is but one G.o.d in three persons who has created the heavens and the earth and all that are therein. He formed Adam the first man out of the dust of the earth, and afterwards made Eve his wife from a rib taken out of his side. All the generations of men are descended from these our first parents, by whose disobedience we have all become sinners, unworthy therefore of the grace and mercy of G.o.d, and beyond the hope of heaven, until Jesus Christ our Redeemer was born of the Virgin and suffered death to purchase for us life and immortality. After our Lord had suffered a shameful death upon the cross, he rose again in a glorious manner; and, having remained a short time on earth, he ascended into Heaven, leaving St Peter his vicar on earth, and after him his successors who dwell in Rome, and are named popes by the Christians. These holy successors of St Peter have divided all the countries of the world among the Christian kings and princes, giving in charge to each to subdue that portion which has been alotted to him. This country of Peru having fallen to the share of his imperial and royal majesty, the emperor Don Carlos king of Spain, that great monarch hath sent in his place the governor Don Francisco Pizarro, now present, to make known to you on the part of G.o.d and the king of Spain, all that I have now said. If you are disposed to believe all this, to receive baptism, and to obey the emperor, as is done by the greatest portion of the Christian world, that great prince will protect and defend you and your country in peace, causing justice to be administered to all.

He will likewise confirm all your rights and liberties, as he is accustomed to do to all the kings and princes who have voluntarily submitted to his authority. But if you refuse this and choose to run the hazard of war, the governor will attack you with fire and sword, and is ready at this moment to do so with arms in his hand[13].”

When Atahualpa had listened to this discourse, very imperfectly rendered by an ignorant interpreter, he answered, ”That the whole of this country had been conquered by his father and his ancestors, who had left it in rightful succession to his elder brother the inca Huascar. That he having been conquered and taken prisoner, Atahualpa held himself as legitimate sovereign, and could not conceive how St Peter could pretend to give it away to any one, without the knowledge and consent of him to whom it belonged. As for Jesus Christ, who he said had created heaven and earth and man and all other things, he knew nothing of all this, believing that the sun his father was the creator of all, whom he and his nation venerated as a G.o.d, wors.h.i.+pping likewise the earth as the mother of all things, and the _guacas_ as subordinate divinities, and that Pachacama was the supreme ruler and creator of all things. As for what he had said of the king of Spain, he knew nothing at all about the matter, never having seen him.” At the last, he asked the bishop where he had learnt all those things which he had been telling him. Valverde answered him that all these things were contained in the book which he held in his hand, which was the word of G.o.d. Atahualpa asked it from him, opened the book turning over its leaves, saying that it said nothing to him, and threw it on the ground.

The bishop then turning to the Spaniards, called out, ”To arms! to arms!

Christians: The word of G.o.d is insulted.”

Pizarro being of opinion that he would be easily destroyed if he waited for the attack of the Peruvians, immediately ordered his soldiers to advance to the charge, sending word to his brothers and the other officers who commanded the cavalry to execute the orders which they had already received. He likewise ordered the artillery and the crossbows to commence firing upon the Indians, on which the cavalry, as had been concerted, sallied forth and charged through among the Indians in three separate bodies; while he moved forwards at the head of the infantry, pus.h.i.+ng directly for the litter in which Atahualpa was carried, the bearers of which they began to slay, while others pressed on to supply their places.

As Pizarro was convinced that he and his people would be infallibly destroyed if the battle remained for any length of time undecided, the loss of one soldier being of infinitely worse consequence to him than the destruction of hundreds was to the enemy, and that he gained nothing by the death of thousands of the Peruvians, determined to make every effort to gain possession of Atahualpa, for which purpose he cut his way up to the litter in which he was carried; and seizing him by his long hair dragged him from his seat to the ground. In doing this, as several of his soldiers were making cuts with their swords against the golden litter, one of their swords glancing off wounded Pizarro in the hand. Paying no attention to this wound, he held fast his rich prize, in spite of the endeavours of mult.i.tudes of Indians to rescue their sovereign, who were all either killed or driven away, and at length secured Atahualpa as his prisoner.

When the Peruvians saw their sovereign in the hands of the Spaniards, and found themselves a.s.sailed in so many places at once by the enemy, especially by the horse, the fury of whose charge they were unable to resist, they threw down their arms and dispersed in every direction, endeavouring to preserve their lives by flight. A prodigious mult.i.tude of them being stopped by a corner of the great court or square, pressed with such violence against the wall that a part of it gave way, forming a large breach by which many of them escaped. The cavalry pursued the fugitives in every direction till night, when they returned to quarters[14].

When Ruminagui heard the noise of the artillery, and saw a centinel who had been placed on the top of a rock thrown down by a Spaniard, he concluded that the Spaniards had gained the victory; and was so much alarmed that he marched away with all his men to Quito, never stopping for any time till he got to that city, which is two hundred and fifty leagues from Caxamarca.

Atahualpa being thus made prisoner, and his whole army having taken to flight, the Spaniards went next morning to pillage his camp, where they found a prodigious quant.i.ty of gold and silver vessels, excessively rich tents, stuffs, vestments, and many other articles of immense value. The gold plate alone which was carried along with the army for the use of Atahualpa exceeded the value of 60,000 pistoles[15]. Above 5000 women who were found in the camp of the enemy voluntarily surrendered themselves to the Spaniards.

The captive Atahualpa now made submissive application to Pizarro, earnestly intreating to be well used, and made offer for his ransom to deliver a quant.i.ty of gold that should fill a large chamber, besides so large a ma.s.s of silver that the Spaniards would be unable to carry the whole away. Pizarro was astonished at this magnificent offer, which he could hardly credit, yet promised the fallen monarch that he should be well used, and even engaged to restore his freedom if he made good his offer. Atahualpa was so much pleased with this promise, that he immediately sent numerous messengers through the whole empire, particularly to Cuzco, ordering all the gold and silver that could be procured to be brought to Caxamarca to pay his ransom. He had promised an immense quant.i.ty, as he had engaged to fill a long hall in the _tambos_ or palace of Cazamarca as high as he could reach with his hand[16], for which purpose the height was marked by a coloured line drawn round the whole room. Although large quant.i.ties of gold and silver arrived every day after this agreement, the Spaniards could not be satisfied that the promise of Atahualpa would ever be fulfilled. They began even to murmur at the delay, alleging that the time which had been fixed by Atahualpa for the accomplishment of his promise was already past; and they alleged that he had fallen upon this scheme on purpose to gain time for the a.s.semblage of a new army, with which to attack them at unawares. As Atahualpa had considerable sagacity, he soon noticed the discontent of the Spaniards, and asked Pizarro the reason. On being informed, he made answer that they were in the wrong to complain of the delay, which was not such as to give any reasonable cause for suspicion. They ought to consider that Cuzco, from whence the far greater part of the gold had to be brought, was above 200 _large_ leagues distant from Caxamarca by an extremely difficult road, by which all the gold had to be carried on the shoulders of the Peruvians, and that very little time had elapsed for the accomplishment of so laborious a work. Having thus endeavoured to explain the cause of delay in payment of the ransom, he requested that they would satisfy themselves on the subject by inspection that he was actually able to perform his engagement; after which they would not think much of its being delayed a month more or less. For this purpose, he proposed that he should depute two or three of the Spaniards, who might go to Cuzco, having orders from him to be shewn the royal treasures in that city, of which they would then be able to bring back certain information to satisfy the rest.

Opinions were much divided among the Spaniards, as to the adoption or rejection of this proposal. Several considered it is a most dangerous measure for any person to trust himself in the hand of the Peruvians, especially to so great a distance. Atahualpa considered this doubt of safety as very strange, especially as they had him in their hands as an hostage, together with his wives, children, and brothers. On this, Hernando de Soto and Pedro de Barco resolved to undertake the journey; and accordingly by the directions of Atahualpa, they set out in litters, each of which was carried on the shoulders of two men, with a number of other Peruvians accompanying them, to serve as reliefs when the others were tired. They were carried in this manner almost as fast as if they had rode post; as the litter carriers went along with great swiftness, frequently relieved by the others, of whom there were fifty or sixty in all.

Several days journey from Caxamarca, Soto and Barco met a party of the troops of Atahualpa, who were escorting the Inca Huascar as a prisoner.

This unfortunate prince, on learning who they were, requested to have a conference with them, to which they consented, and in which he was distinctly informed of all the recent events. On being informed of the intentions of his imperial majesty Don Carlos, and of Pizarro, who commanded the Spaniards in his name, to cause impartial justice to be executed both to the Peruvians and Spaniards, he laid before them a distinct account of the injustice which he had suffered from his brother Atahualpa, who not only wished to deprive him of the kingdom, which belonged to him of right, as the eldest son of the late monarch Huana Capac, but now kept him a prisoner, with the design of putting him to death. He urged them to return to their general, and to lay his complaints before him, requesting that he, who now had both compet.i.tors in his power, and was consequently entire master of the country, would judge between them, and decree the possession of the empire to him who held the lawful right of succession. He farther promised, if Pizarro would do this, that he would not only fulfil all that Atahualpa had promised, which was to fill the apartment at Caxamarca to a certain height, but he would fill it with gold to the roof, which would be three times more than Atahualpa had promised. He a.s.sured them that he was better able to do all this, than was Atahualpa to perform what he had promised; because Atahualpa, to implement his engagement, would be under the necessity of stripping the temple of the Sun at Cuzco of all the plates of gold and silver with which it was lined; whereas he, Huascar, was in possession of all the treasures which belonged to his father Huana Capac, and the former Incas, by which he was able to perform what he had now offered, and a great deal more.

All that he alleged was certainly true, as Huascar was in possession of immense treasures, which he had hidden under ground in some secret place, unknown to all the world. On this occasion, he had employed many Indians to transport his wealth into the place of concealment, after which he had ordered them all to be put to death, that they might not inform any one of the place. After the Spaniards were entire masters of the country, they made every possible search after these treasures, and even continue their search to the present day, digging in every place where they suspect they may be concealed, but hitherto without being able to find them.

Soto and Barco told Huascar, that it was out of their power to turn back, being under the necessity of continuing the journey on which they had been sent by order of their general; but that on their return they would make a faithful report of all he had said. They accordingly went on their way towards Cuzco. But this meeting and conference occasioned the death of Huascar, and the loss to the Spaniards of the vast treasure he had promised for his liberty and restoration. The captains who had the custody of Huascar made a report to Atahualpa of all that had pa.s.sed in the interview between their prisoner and the Spanish messengers; and Atahualpa had sufficient sagacity to see, if these matters came to the knowledge of Pizarro, that he would feel inclined to take part with Huascar, especially in consideration of the prodigious quant.i.ty of gold which had been offered for his interference. He had remarked the extreme eagerness of the Spaniards for the possession of gold, and feared that they would deprive him of the kingdom, and give it his brother, and might put himself to death, as an unjust usurper of the clear rights of another. Being disposed, from these motives, to order his brother Huascar to be put to death, he was only restrained from doing this immediately by one circ.u.mstance. He had frequently heard from the Christians, that one of their princ.i.p.al laws, which was most religiously observed, was, that all who were guilty of murder were punished with death, whether the murder were committed by themselves personally, or by others at their instigation. He resolved, therefore, to sound Pizarro, and to discover his sentiments on this subject, which he did with wonderful artifice and dissimulation. One day he pretended to be overcome with extreme grief, weeping and sobbing, and refusing to eat or drink, or to speak with any one. When Pizarro inquired the cause of this distress, he allowed himself to be long intreated before he would give any reason of his sorrow. At length, as if overcome by solicitation, he said, ”That he had just received intelligence that one of his officers had put his brother Huascar to death, by which news he was entirely overcome with grief, as he had always entertained the warmest and most respectful affection for him, not only as his eldest brother, but in a great measure as his father and sovereign. That although he had taken Huascar prisoner, he not only had no intention of using him ill in his person, but did not even mean to deprive him of the kingdom: his sole object being to oblige him to give up the possession of the kingdom of Quito, according to the last will of their father, Huana Capac; who had made a conquest of that country, which was beyond the boundary of the hereditary empire of the incas, and which consequently their father had an undoubted right to dispose of in his favour.” Pizarro endeavoured to console the pretended affliction of Atahualpa, by a.s.suring him, when peace and good order re-established in the empire, that he would make a strict inquiry into the circ.u.mstances of the death of Huascar, and would severely punish all who had partic.i.p.ated in the crime.

When Atahualpa found that Pizarro took up this affair with so much coolness and moderation, he resolved to execute his design, and sent immediate orders to his officers who had the custody of Huascar to put him to death. So promptly were these orders obeyed, that it was difficult to ascertain in the sequel whether the excessive grief of Atahualpa was feigned, and whether it preceded or followed the death of his brother Huascar. Most of the soldiers blamed Soto and Barco for this unhappy event: not considering the necessity of every one to obey the orders of their superiors with exactness, according to their instructions, especially in time of war, without a.s.suming the liberty of making any alteration or modification according to circ.u.mstances in their own opinion, unless they have express and formal discretionary power.

It was currently reported among the Peruvians, that when Huascar learnt he was to be put to death by order of his brother, he made the following observation: ”I have been only a short while sovereign of this country, but my faithless brother, by whose orders I am to die, will not be longer a king than I have been.” When the Peruvians soon afterwards saw Atahualpa put to death, conformable to this prediction, they believed Huascar to have been a true son of the sun. It is reported also, that Huascar should have said, when his father Huana Capac took his last leave of him, he foretold ”That white men with long beards would soon come into Peru, and advised him to treat them as friends, as they would become masters of the kingdom.” Huana Capac may have received some intimation of this future circ.u.mstance from the demons; and that the more readily, that Pizarro had been on the coast of Peru before his death, and had even begun to make some conquests.

While Pizarro continued to reside in Caxamarca, he sent out his brother Ferdinand with a party of cavalry to discover the country, who went as far as Pachacamac, about a hundred leagues from Caxamarca. In the district of Huamachucos, Ferdinand met with Hlescas, one of the brothers of Atahualpa, who was escorting a prodigious quant.i.ty of gold to Caxamarca, part of the ransom of the captive inca, to the value of two or three millions at the least, without counting an immense quant.i.ty of silver[17]. He continued his journey from Huamachucos to Pachacamac, not far to the south of where Lima now stands, through several difficult and dangerous pa.s.ses; when he learnt that one of the generals of Atahualpa, named Cilicuchima was stationed with a large army at a place about forty leagues from thence.

Ferdinand Pizarro sent a message to the Peruvian general to request that he would come to speak with him; and as Cilicuchima refused, Ferdinand took the resolution to wait upon him in person. This was considered by many as extremely rash and imprudent, to trust himself in the hands of a barbarous and powerful enemy. He was successful however in the attempt, as by various representations and promises, he prevailed on the Peruvian general to dismiss his army, and to go along with him to Caxamarca to wait upon his sovereign Atahualpa. To shorten their journey, they took a very difficult route through mountains covered with snow, where they were in danger of peris.h.i.+ng with cold.

On arriving at Caxamarca, before entering into the presence of Atahualpa, Cilicuchima bared his feet and carried a present to his sovereign after the custom of the country, and said to him weeping, that if he had been along with him, the Spaniards should not have been allowed to make him a prisoner. Atahualpa answered, that his captivity was a punishment from the G.o.ds, whom he had not honoured and respected as he ought to have done; but that his defeat and capture were chiefly owing to the cowardice and flight of Ruminagui with his 5000 men, who ought to have succoured him when attacked by the Spaniards.

While Don Francisco Pizarro was in the province of Poecho between Tumbez and Payta, before he marched to Caxamarca, he received a letter without any signature, which it was afterwards learnt had been sent to him by the secretary of Don Diego de Almagro. He was informed by this letter, that Almagro had fitted out a large s.h.i.+p and several smaller vessels with a considerable number of soldiers, in which he proposed to sail beyond the country of which Pizarro had taken possession, and to reduce the best portion of Peru under his own authority, as beyond the government which had been granted to Pizarro by his majesty, which only extended 200 leagues to the south of the equator[18]. The governor had never shewn his patents to any person[19]; yet it was currently reported that Almagro actually left Panama with the intention of carrying that design into execution; but on arriving at Puertoviejo, and learning the amazing successes of Pizarro, and the prodigious quant.i.ties of gold and silver he had already acquired, the half of which he considered as belonging to him, he changed his purpose, and marched with all his people to Caxamarca to join Pizarro. On his arrival there, the greater part of the ransom of Atahualpa was already brought, and Almagro and his followers were filled with astonishment and admiration at the sight of the prodigious ma.s.ses of gold and silver which were there collected, more than they thought could have been in any part of the world.

When all this gold and silver was melted down, weighed and essayed, it was found to amount to the amazing sum of six hundred millions of _maravedies_, or more than 4,500,000 livres. It is true that the proof or essay of this gold was made hurriedly, and only by means of the touchstone, as they had no _aqua fortis_ to conduct the process in a more exact manner. It afterwards appeared that this gold had been estimated two or three _carats_ below its real value; so that the whole amount ought to have been reckoned at _seven_ millions of maravedies, or 5,250,000 livres. The quant.i.ty of silver was so large, that the royal fifth amounted to 30,000 marks of fine silver, most of which was afterwards found to contain two or three carats of gold. The royal fifth of the gold amounted to 120 millions of maravedies, or 900,000 livres. Each horseman received for his share in gold, without counting the silver 240 marks or 12,000 pesos, equal to 80,000 francs. The shares of the hors.e.m.e.n were a quarter part larger than those of the foot soldiers. Yet all these sums did not amount to a fifth part of what Atahualpa had engaged to pay for his ransom. Those who had come along with Almagro, though considerable both from their rank and number, certainly had no just t.i.tle to demand any share in the treasure which Atahualpa paid for his ransom, as they had no share in his capture; yet the general a.s.signed each of them 20 marks, or 1000 pesos, as a donative to keep them in good humour.

Pizarro thought it now inc.u.mbent upon him to send intelligence to his majesty of the success of his enterprize, for which purpose he sent over his brother Ferdinand to Spain; and as when he departed, the precious metals had not been melted or proved, so that it was impossible to ascertain what was the exact share belonging to the king, two thousand marks of gold and twenty thousand marks of silver, were set apart for this purpose[20]. In making the selection of articles to be sent to Spain, the largest and finest pieces were chosen, that they might have a grander appearance: Among these were several large vessels of various kinds and for different uses, together with figures of men and women and various animals. When Atahualpa learnt that Ferdinand Pizarro was to embark for Spain he was much afflicted, having a great affection for that gentleman, in whom he reposed implicit confidence; and when Ferdinand came to take leave, he said to him, ”I am sore afflicted at your departure, for I am much afraid the big-belly and the blinkard will put me to death in your absence.” By the former he meant Requelme the treasurer, who was very fat, and by the latter Almagro, who had lost an eye, whom he had observed frequently to mutter against him, for certain reasons, which will appear in the sequel.

As Atahualpa suspected, Ferdinand Pizarro had not been long gone, when the death of the unfortunate prince began to be talked of among the Spaniards.

This was brought about by the suggestions of an Indian named Philippillo, who had accompanied the general into Spain, and now served him as an interpreter with the Peruvians. He pretended that Atahualpa had secretly laid a plan for destroying all the Spaniards; for which purpose he had a great number of armed men concealed in various places, meaning to employ them when a favourable opportunity occurred. The proofs and examination of facts and circ.u.mstances respecting this alleged plot, had all to come through Philippillo, as the only one who knew both languages; and he gave such a turn to every thing as best suited his own views and purposes.