The History Of The Conquest Of Peru

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It was noon before the Indian procession was on its march, when
it was seen occupying the great causeway for a long extent. In
front came a large body of attendants, whose office seemed to be
to sweep away every particle of rubbish from the road. High
above the crowd appeared the Inca, borne on the shoulders of his
principal nobles, while others of the same rank marched by the
sides of his litter, displaying such a dazzling show of ornaments
on their persons, that, in the language of one of the Conquerors,
"they blazed like the sun." *4 But the greater part of the Inca's
forces mustered along the fields that lined the road, and were
spread over the broad meadows as far as the eye could reach. *5

[Footnote 4: "Hera tanta la pateneria que traian d'oro y plata
que hera cossa estrana lo que Reluzia con el Sol.' Pedro Pizarro,
Descub. y Conq., Ms.]

[Footnote 5: To the eye of the old Conqueror so often quoted, the
number of Peruvian warriors appeared not less than 50,000; "mas
de cin cuenta mil que tenia de guerra' (Relacion del Primer.
Descub., Ms.) To Pizarro's secretary, as they lay encamped along
the hills, they seemed about 30,000. (Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap.
Barcia, tom. III. p. 196.) However gratifying to the imagination
to repose on some precise number, it is very rare that one can do
so with safety, in estimating the irregular and tumultuous levies
of a barbarian host.]

When the royal procession had arrived within half a mile of the
city, it came to a halt; and Pizarro saw with surprise that
Atahuallpa was preparing to pitch his tents, as if to encamp
there. A messenger soon after arrived, informing the Spaniards
that the Inca would occupy his present station the ensuing night,
and enter the city on the following morning.
This intelligence greatly disturbed Pizarro, who had shared in
the general impatience of his men at the tardy movements of the
Peruvians. The troops had been under arms since daylight, the
cavalry mounted, and the infantry at their post, waiting in
silence the coming of the Inca. A profound stillness reigned
throughout the town, broken only at intervals by the cry of the
sentinel from the summit of the fortress, as he proclaimed the
movements of the Indian army. Nothing, Pizarro well knew, was so
trying to the soldier as prolonged suspense, in a critical
situation like the present; and he feared lest his ardor might
evaporate, and be succeeded by that nervous feeling natural to
the bravest soul at such a crisis, and which, if not fear, is
near akin to it. *6 He returned an answer, therefore, to
Atahuallpa, deprecating his change of purpose; and adding that he
had provided every thing for his entertainment, and expected him
that night to sup with him. *7

[Footnote 6: Pedro Pizarro says that an Indian spy reported to
Atahuallpa, that the white men were all huddled together in the
great halls on the square, in much consternation, llenos de
miedo, which was not far from the truth, adds the cavalier.
(Descub. y Conq., Ms.)]

[Footnote 7: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.

"Asentados sus toldos envio a decir al gobernador que ya era
tarde, que el queria dormir alli, que por la manana vernia: el
gobernador le envio a decir que le rogaba que viniese luego,
porque le esperaba a cenar, e que no habia de cenar, hasta que
fuese." Carta de Hern. Pizarro, Ms.]
This message turned the Inca from his purpose; and, striking his
tents again, he resumed his march, first advising the general
that he should leave the greater part of his warriors behind, and
enter the place with only a few of them, and without arms, *8 as
he preferred to pass the night at Caxamalca. At the same time he
ordered accommodations to be provided for himself and his retinue
in one of the large stone buildings, called, from a serpent
sculptured on the walls, "the House of the Serpent." *9 - No
tidings could have been more grateful to the Spaniards. It
seemed as if the Indian monarch was eager to rush into the snare
that had been spread for him! The fanatical cavalier could not
fail to discern in it the immediate finger of Providence.

[Footnote 8: "El queria vernir luego, e que venia sin armas. E
luego Atabaliva se movio para venir, e dejo alli la gente con las
armas, e llevo consigo hasta cinco o seis mil indios sin armas,
salvo que debajo de las camisetas traian unas porras pequenas, e
hondas, e bolsas con piedras." Carta de Hern. Pizarro Ms.]

[Footnote 9: Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap Barcia, tom. III. p. 197.]
It is difficult to account for this wavering conduct of
Atahuallpa, so different from the bold and decided character
which history ascribes to him. There is no doubt that he made his
visit to the white men in perfect good faith; though Pizarro was
probably right in conjecturing that this amiable disposition
stood on a very precarious footing. There is as little reason to
suppose that he distrusted the sincerity of the strangers; or he
would not thus unnecessarily have proposed to visit them unarmed.
His original purpose of coming with all his force was doubtless
to display his royal state, and perhaps, also, to show greater
respect for the Spaniards; but when he consented to accept their
hospitality, and pass the night in their quarters, he was willing
to dispense with a great part of his armed soldiery, and visit
them in a manner that implied entire confidence in their good
faith. He was too absolute in his own empire easily to suspect;
and he probably could not comprehend the audacity with which a
few men, like those now assembled in Caxamalca, meditated an
assault on a powerful monarch in the midst of his victorious
army. He did not know the character of the Spaniard.
It was not long before sunset, when the van of the royal
procession entered the gates of the city. First came some
hundreds of the menials, employed to clear the path from every
obstacle, and singing songs of triumph as they came, "which, in
our ears," says one of the Conquerors, "sounded like the songs of
hell"! *10 Then followed other bodies of different ranks, and
dressed in different liveries. Some wore a showy stuff,
checkered white and red, like the squares of a chess-board. *11
Others were clad in pure white, bearing hammers or maces of
silver or copper; *12 and the guards, together with those in
immediate attendance on the prince, were distinguished by a rich
azure livery, and a profusion of gay ornaments, while the large
pendants attached to the ears indicated the Peruvian noble.

[Footnote 10: Relacion del Primer. Descub., Ms.]

[Footnote 11: "Blanca y colorada como las casas de un ajedrez."
Ibid., Ms.]

[Footnote 12: "Con martillos en las manos de cobre y plata."
Ibid., Ms.]

Elevated high above his vassals came the Inca Atahuallpa, borne
on a sedan or open litter, on which was a sort of throne made of
massive gold of inestimable value. *13 The palanquin was lined
with the richly colored plumes of tropical birds, and studded
with shining plates of gold and silver. *14 The monarch's attire
was much richer than on the preceding evening. Round his neck
was suspended a collar of emeralds of uncommon size and
brilliancy. *15 His short hair was decorated with golden
ornaments, and the imperial borla encircled his temples. The
bearing of the Inca was sedate and dignified; and from his lofty
station he looked down on the multitudes below with an air of
composure, like one accustomed to command.

[Footnote 13: "El asiento que traia sobre las andas era un tablon
de oro que peso un quintal de oro segun dicen los historiadores
25,000 pesos o ducados." Naharro, Relacion Sumaria, Ms.]

[Footnote 14: "Luego venia mucha Gente con Armaduras, Patenas, i
Coronas do oro i Plata: entre estos venia Atabaliba, en una
Litera, aforrada de Pluma de Papagaios, de muchas colores,
guarnecida de chapas de Oro, i Plata." Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap.
Barcia, tom. III. p. 198.]

[Footnote 15: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms.

"Venia la persona de Atabalica, la cual traian ochenta Senores en
hombros todos bestidos de una librea azul muy rica, y el bestido
su persona muy ricamente con su corona en la cabeza, y al cuello
un collar de emeraldas grandes." Relacion del Primer. Descub.,
Ms.]

As the leading files of the procession entered the great square,
larger, says an old chronicler, than any square in Spain, they
opened to the right and left for the royal retinue to pass.
Every thing was conducted with admirable order. The monarch was
permitted to traverse the plaza in silence, and not a Spaniard
was to be seen. When some five or six thousand of his people had
entered the place, Atahuallpa halted, and, turning round with an
inquiring look, demanded, "Where are the strangers?"

At this moment Fray Vicente de Valverde, a Dominican friar,
Pizarro's chaplain, and afterward Bishop of Cuzco, came forward
with his breviary, or, as other accounts say, a Bible, in one
hand, and a crucifix in the other, and, approaching the Inca,
told him, that he came by order of his commander to expound to
him the doctrines of the true faith, for which purpose the
Spaniards had come from a great distance to his country. The
friar then explained, as clearly as he could, the mysterious
doctrine of the Trinity, and, ascending high in his account,
began with the creation of man, thence passed to his fall, to his
subsequent redemption by Jesus Christ, to the crucifixion, and
the ascension, when the Saviour left the Apostle Peter as his
Vicegerent upon earth. This power had been transmitted to the
successors of the Apostle, good and wise men, who, under the
title of Popes, held authority over all powers and potentates on
earth. One of the last of these Popes had commissioned the
Spanish emperor, the most mighty monarch in the world, to conquer
and convert the natives in this western hemisphere; and his
general, Francisco Pizarro, had now come to execute this
important mission. The friar concluded with beseeching the
Peruvian monarch to receive him kindly; to abjure the errors of
his own faith, and embrace that of the Christians now proffered
to him, the only one by which he could hope for salvation; and,
furthermore, to acknowledge himself a tributary of the Emperor
Charles the Fifth, who, in that even, would aid and protect him
as his loyal vassal. *16

[Footnote 16: Montesinos says that Valverde read to the Inca the
regular formula used by the Spaniards in their Conquests.
(Annales, Ms., ano 1533.) But that address, though absurd enough,
did not comprehend the whole range of theology ascribed to the
chaplain on this occasion. Yet it is not impossible. But I have
followed the report of Fray Naharro, who collected his
information from the actors in the tragedy, and whose minuter
statement is corroborated by the more general testimony of both
the Pizarros and the secretary Xerez.]

Whether Atahuallpa possessed himself of every link in the curious
chain of argument by which the monk connected Pizarro with St.
Peter, may be doubted. It is certain, however, that he must have
had very incorrect notions of the Trinity, if, as Garcilasso
states, the interpreter Felipillo explained it by saying, that
"the Christians believed in three Gods and one God, and that made
four." *17 But there is no doubt he perfectly comprehended that
the drift of the discourse was to persuade him to resign his
sceptre and acknowledge the supremacy of another.

[Footnote 17: "Por dezir Dios trino y uno dixo Dios tres y uno
son quatre sumando los numeros por darse a entender." Com. Real.,
Parte 2, lib. 1, cap. 23.]

The eyes of the Indian monarch flashed fire, and his dark brow
grew darker as he replied, - "I will be no man's tributary. I am
greater than any prince upon earth. Your emperor may be a great
prince; I do not doubt it, when I see that he has sent his
subjects so far across the waters; and I am willing to hold him
as a brother. As for the Pope of whom you speak, he must be
crazy to talk of giving away countries which do not belong to
him. For my faith," he continued, "I will not change it Your own
God, as you say, was put to death by the very men whom he
created. But mine," he concluded, pointing to his Deity, - then,
alas! sinking in glory behind the mountains, - "my God still
lives in the heavens, and looks down on his children." *18

[Footnote 18: See Appendix, No. 8, where the reader will find
extracts in the original from several contemporary Mss., relating
to the capture of Atahuallpa.]

He then demanded of Valverde by what authority he had said these
things. The friar pointed to the book which he held, as his
authority. Atahuallpa, taking it, turned over the pages a
moment, then, as the insult he had received probably flashed
across his mind, he threw it down with vehemence, and exclaimed,
- "Tell your comrades that they shall give me an account of their
doings in my land. I will not go from here, till they have made
me full satisfaction for all the wrongs they have committed." *19

[Footnote 19: Some accounts describe him as taxing the Spaniards
in much more unqualified terms. (See Appendix, No. 8.) but
language is not likely to be accurately reported in such seasons
of excitement. - According to some authorities, Atahuallpa let
the volume drop by accident. (Montesinos, Annales, Ms., ano
1533. - Balboa, Hist. du Perou, chap. 22.) But the testimony, as
far as we have it, of those present, concurs in representing it
as stated in the text. And, if he spoke with the heat imputed to
him, this act would only be in keeping.]

The friar, greatly scandalized by the indignity offered to the
sacred volume, stayed only to pick it up, and, hastening to
Pizarro, informed him of what had been done, exclaiming, at the
same time, - "Do you not see, that, while we stand here wasting
our breath in talking with this dog, full of pride as he is, the
fields are filling with Indians? Set on, at once; I absolve
you." *20 Pizarro saw that the hour had come. He waved a white
scarf in the air, the appointed signal. The fatal gun was fired
from the fortress. Then, springing into the square, the Spanish
captain and his followers shouted the old war-cry of "St. Jago
and at them." It was answered by the battle-cry of every Spaniard
in the city, as, rushing from the avenues of the great halls in
which they were concealed, they poured into the plaza, horse and
foot, each in his own dark column, and threw themselves into the
midst of the Indian crowd. The latter, taken by surprise, stunned
by the report of artillery and muskets, the echoes of which
reverberated like thunder from the surrounding buildings, and
blinded by the smoke which rolled in sulphurous volumes along the
square, were seized with a panic. They knew not whither to fly
for refuge from the coming ruin Nobles and commoners, - all were
trampled down under the fierce charge of the cavalry, who dealt
their blows, right and left, without sparing; while their swords,
flashing through the thick gloom, carried dismay into the hearts
of the wretched natives, who now, for the first time, saw the
horse and his rider in all their terrors. They made no
resistance, - as, indeed, they had no weapons with which to make
it. Every avenue to escape was closed, for the entrance to the
square was choked up with the dead bodies of men who had perished
in vain efforts to fly; and, such was the agony of the survivors
under the terrible pressure of their assailants, that a large
body of Indians, by their convulsive struggles, burst through the
wall of stone and dried clay which formed part of the boundary of
the plaza! It fell, leaving an opening of more than a hundred
paces, through which multitudes now found their way into the
country, still hotly pursued by the cavalry, who, leaping the
fallen rubbish, hung on the rear of the fugitives, striking them
down in all directions. *21

[Footnote 20: "Visto esto por el Frayle y lo poco que
aprovechaban sus palabras, tomo su libro, y abajo su cabeza, y
fuese para donde estaba el dicho Pizarro, casi corriendo, y
dijole: No veis lo que pasa: para que estais en comedimientos y
requerimientos con este perro lleno de soberbia que vienen los
campos llenos de Indios? Salid a el, - que yo os absuelvo."
(Relacion del Primer. Descub., Ms.) The historian should be slow
in ascribing conduct so diabolical to Father Valverde, without
evidence. Two of the Conquerors present, Pedro Pizarro and
Xerez, simply state that the monk reported to his commander the
indignity offered to the sacred volume. but Hernando Pizarro and
the author of the Relacion del Primer. Descub., both
eyewitnesses, and Naharro, Zarate, Gomara, Balboa, Herrera, the
Inca Titucussi Yupanqui, all of whom obtained their information
from persons who were eyewitnesses, state the circumstances, with
little variation, as in the text. Yet Oviedo indorses the
account of Xerez, and Garcilasso de la Vega insists on Valverde's
innocence of any attempt to rouse the passion of his comrades.]

[Footnote 21: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Xerez, Conq.
del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. III. p. 198. - Carta de Hern. Pizarro,
Ms. - Oviedo, Hist. de las Indias, Ms., Parte 3. lib. 8, cap. 7.
- Relacion del Primer. Descub., Ms. - Zarate, Conq. del Peru,
lib. 2, cap. 5. - Instruccion del Inga Titucussi Yupanqui, Ms.]

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.]