The History Of The Conquest Of Peru

W >> William H. Prescott >> The History Of The Conquest Of Peru

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70

[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.]

Chapter VI

Gold Arrives For The Ransom. - Visit To Pachacamac. - Demolition
Of The Idol. - The Inca's Favorite General. - The Inca's Life In
Confinement. - Envoy's Conduct In Cuzco. - Arrival Of Almagro.

1533.

Several weeks had now passed since Atahuallpa's emissaries had
been despatched for the gold and silver that were to furnish his
ransom to the Spaniards. But the distances were great, and the
returns came in slowly. They consisted, for the most part, of
massive pieces of plate, some of which weighed two or three
arrobas, - a Spanish weight of twenty-five pounds. On some days,
articles of the value of thirty or forty thousand pesos de oro
were brought in, and, occasionally, of the value of fifty or even
sixty thousand pesos. The greedy eyes of the Conquerors gloated
on the shining heaps of treasure, which were transported on the
shoulders of the Indian porters, and, after being carefully
registered, were placed in safe deposit under a strong guard.
They now began to believe that the magnificent promises of the
Inca would be fulfilled. But, as their avarice was sharpened by
the ravishing display of wealth, such as they had hardly dared to
imagine, they became more craving and impatient. They made no
allowance for the distance and the difficulties of the way, and
loudly inveighed against the tardiness with which the royal
commands were executed. They even suspected Atahuallpa of
devising this scheme only to gain a pretext for communicating
with his subjects in distant places, and of proceeding as
dilatorily as possible, in order to secure time for the execution
of his plans. Rumors of a rising among the Peruvians were
circulated, and the Spaniards were in apprehension of some
general and sudden assault on their quarters. Their new
acquisitions gave them additional cause for solicitude; like a
miser, they trembled in the midst of their treasures. *1

[Footnote 1: Zarate, Conq. del Peru, lib. 2, sap. 6. - Naharro,
Relacion Sumaria, Ms. - Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom.
III. p. 204.]

Pizarro reported to his captive the rumors that were in
circulation among the soldiers, naming, as one of the places
pointed out for the rendezvous of the Indians, the neighbouring
city of Guamachucho. Atahuallpa listened with undisguised
astonishment, and indignantly repelled the charge, as false from
beginning to end. "No one of my subjects," said he, "would dare
to appear in arms, or to raise his finger, without my orders.
You have me," he continued, "in your power. Is not my life at
your disposal? And what better security can you have for my
fidelity?" He then represented to the Spanish commander, that the
distances of many of the places were very great; that to Cuzco,
the capital, although a message might be sent by post, through a
succession of couriers, in five days from Caxamalca, it would
require weeks for a porter to travel over the same ground, with a
heavy load on his back. "But that you may be satisfied I am
proceeding in good faith," he added, "I desire you will send some
of your own people to Cuzco. I will give them a safe-conduct,
and, when there, they can superintend the execution of the
commission, and see with their own eyes that no hostile movements
are intended." It was a fair offer, and Pizarro, anxious to get
more precise and authentic information of the state of the
country, gladly availed himself of it. *2

[Footnote 2: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Xerez, Conq.
del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. III. pp. 203, 204. - Naharro, Relacion
Sumaria, Ms.]

Before the departure of these emissaries, the general had
despatched his brother Hernando with about twenty horse and a
small body of infantry to the neighbouring town of Guamachucho,
in order to reconnoitre the country, and ascertain if there was
any truth in the report of an armed force having assembled there.
Hernando found every thing quiet, and met with a kind reception
from the natives. But before leaving the place, he received
further orders from his brother to continue his march to
Pachacamac, a town situated on the coast, at least a hundred
leagues distant from Caxamalca. It was consecrated as the seat of
the great temple of the deity of that name, whom the Peruvians
worshipped as the Creator of the world. It is said that they
found there altars raised to this god, on their first occupation
of the country; and, such was the veneration in which he was held
by the natives, that the Incas, instead of attempting to abolish
his worship, deemed it more prudent to sanction it conjointly
with that of their own deity, the Sun. Side by side, the two
temples rose on the heights that overlooked the city of
Pachacamac, and prospered in the offerings of their respective
votaries. "It was a cunning arrangement," says an ancient writer,
"by which the great enemy of man secured to himself a double
harvest of souls." *3

[Footnote 3: "El demonio Pachacama alegre con este concierto,
afirman que mostraua en sus respuestas gran contento: pues con lo
vno y lo otro era el seruido, y quedauan las animas de los
simples malauenturados presas en su poder." Cieza de Leon,
Cronica, cap. 72.]

But the temple of Pachacamac continued to maintain its
ascendency; and the oracles delivered from its dark and
mysterious shrine, were held in no less repute among the natives
of Tavantinsuyu, (or "the four quarters of the world," as Peru
under the Incas was called,) than the oracles of Delphi obtained
among the Greeks. Pilgrimages were made to the hallowed spot
from the most distant regions, and the city of Pachacamac became
among the Peruvians what Mecca was among the Mahometans, or
Cholula with the people of Anahuac. The shrine of the deity,
enriched by the tributes of the pilgrims, gradually became one of
the most opulent in the land, and Atahuallpa, anxious to collect
his ransom as speedily as possible, urged Pizarro to send a
detachment in that direction, to secure the treasures before they
could be secreted by the priests of the temple.

It was a journey of considerable difficulty. Two thirds of the
route lay along the table-land of the Cordilleras, intersected
occasionally by crests of the mountain range, that imposed no
slight impediment to their progress. Fortunately, much of the
way, they had the benefit of the great road to Cuzco, and
"nothing in Christendom," exclaims Hernando Pizarro, "equals the
magnificence of this road across the sierra." *4 In some places,
the rocky ridges were so precipitous, that steps were cut in them
for the travellers; and though the sides were protected by heavy
stone balustrades or parapets, it was with the greatest
difficulty that the horses were enabled to scale them. The road
was frequently crossed by streams, over which bridges of wood and
sometimes of stone were thrown; though occasionally, along the
declivities of the mountains, the waters swept down in such
furious torrents, that the only method of passing them was by the
swinging bridges of osier, of which, till now, the Spaniards had
had little experience. They were secured on either bank to heavy
buttresses of stone. But as they were originally designed for
nothing heavier than the foot-passenger and the llama, and, as
they had something exceedingly fragile in their appearance, the
Spaniards hesitated to venture on them with their horses.
Experience, however, soon showed they were capable of bearing a
much greater weight; and though the traveller, made giddy by the
vibration of the long avenue, looked with a reeling brain into
the torrent that was tumbling at the depth of a hundred feet or
more below him, the whole of the cavalry effected their passage
without an accident. At these bridges, it may be remarked, they
found persons stationed whose business it was to collect toll for
the government from all travellers. *5

[Footnote 4: "El camino de las sierras es cosa de ver, porque en
verdad en tierra tan fragosa en la cristiandad no se han visto
tan hermosos caminos, toda la mayor parte de calzada." Carta,
Ms.]

[Footnote 5: "Todos los arroyos tienen puentes de piedra o de
madera: en un rio grande, que era muy caudaloso e muy grande, que
pasamos dos veces, hallamos puentes de red, que es cosa
maravillosa de ver; pasamos por ellas los caballos; tienen en
cada pasaje dos puentes, la una por donde pasa la gente comun, la
otra por donde pasa el senor de la tierra o sus capitanes: esta
tienen siempre cerrada e indios que la guardan; estos indios
cobran portazgo de los que pasan." Carta de Hern. Pizarro, Ms. -
Also Relacion del Primer. Descub., Ms.]

The Spaniards were amazed by the number as well as magnitude of
the flocks of llamas which they saw browsing on the stunted
herbage that grows in the elevated regions of the Andes. Some
times they were gathered in inclosures, but more usually were
roaming at large under the conduct of their Indian shepherds; and
the Conquerors now learned, for the first time, that these
animals were tended with as much care, and their migrations as
nicely regulated, as those of the vast flocks of merinos in their
own country. *6

[Footnote 6: A comical blunder has been made by the printer, in
M. Ter naux-Compans's excellent translation of Xerez, in the
account of this expedition. "On trouve sur toute la route
beaucoup de porcs, de lamas." (Relation de la Conquete du Perou,
p. 157.) The substitution of porcs for parcs might well lead the
reader into the error of supposing that swine existed in Peru
before the Conquest.]

The table-land and its declivities were thickly sprinkled with
hamlets and towns, some of them of considerable size; and the
country in every direction bore the marks of a thrifty husbandry.
Fields of Indian corn were to be seen in all its different
stages, from the green and tender ear to the yellow ripeness of
harvest time. As they descended into the valleys and deep
ravines that divided the crests of the Cordilleras, they were
surrounded by the vegetation of a warmer climate, which delighted
the eye with the gay livery of a thousand bright colors, and
intoxicated the senses with its perfumes. Everywhere the natural
capacities of the soil were stimulated by a minute system of
irrigation, which drew the fertilizing moisture from every stream
and rivulet that rolled down the declivities of the Andes; while
the terraced sides of the mountains were clothed with gardens and
orchards that teemed with fruits of various latitudes. The
Spaniards could not sufficiently admire the industry with which
the natives had availed themselves of the bounty of Nature, or
had supplied the deficiency where she had dealt with a more
parsimonious hand.

Whether from the commands of the Inca, or from the awe which
their achievements had spread throughout the land, the Conquerors
were received, in every place through which they passed, with
hospitable kindness. Lodgings were provided for them, with ample
refreshments from the well-stored magazines, distributed at
intervals along the route. In many of the towns the inhabitants
came out to welcome them with singing and dancing; and, when they
resumed their march, a number of able-bodied porters were
furnished to carry forward their baggage. *7

[Footnote 7: Carta de Hern. Pizarro, Ms. - Estete, ap. Barcia,
tom. III. pp. 206, 207. - Relacion del Primer. Descub., Ms.

Both the last-cited author and Miguel Estete, the royal veedor or
inspector, accompanied Hernando Pizarro on this expedition, and,
of course, were eyewitnesses, like himself, of what they relate.
Estete's narrative is incorporated by the secretary Xerez in his
own.]

At length, after some weeks of travel, severe even with all these
appliances, Hernando Pizarro arrived before the city of
Pachacamac. It was a place of considerable population, and the
edifices were, many of them, substantially built. The temple of
the tutelar deity consisted of a vast stone building, or rather
pile of buildings, which, clustering around a conical hill, had
the air of a fortress rather than a religious establishment.
But, though the walls were of stone, the roof was composed of a
light thatch, as usual in countries where rain seldom or never
falls, and where defence, consequently, is wanted chiefly against
the rays of the sun.

Presenting himself at the lower entrance of the temple, Hernando
Pizarro was refused admittance by the guardians of the portal.
But, exclaiming that "he had come too far to be stayed by the arm
of an Indian priest," he forced his way into the passage, and,
followed by his men, wound up the gallery which led to an area on
the summit of the mount, at one end of which stood a sort of
chapel. This was the sanctuary of the dread deity. The door was
garnished with ornaments of crystal, and with turquoises and bits
of coral. *8 Here again the Indians would have dissuaded Pizarro
from violating the consecrated precincts, when, at that moment,
the shock of an earthquake, that made the ancient walls tremble
to their foundation, so alarmed the natives, both those of
Pizarro's own company and the people of the place, that they fled
in dismay, nothing doubting that their incensed deity would bury
the invaders under the ruins, or consume them with his
lightnings. But no such terror found its way into the breast of
the Conquerors, who felt that here, at least, they were fighting
the good fight of the Faith.

[Footnote 8: "Esta puerta era muy tejida de diversas cosas de
corales y turquesas y cristales y otras cosas." Relacion del
Primer. Descub., Ms]

Tearing open the door, Pizarro and his party entered. But
instead of a hall blazing, as they had fondly imagined, with gold
and precious stones, offerings of the worshippers of Pachacamac,
they found themselves in a small and obscure apartment, or rather
den, from the floor and sides of which steamed up the most
offensive odors, - like those of a slaughter-house. It was the
place of sacrifice. A few pieces of gold and some emeralds were
discovered on the ground, and, as their eyes became accommodated
to the darkness, they discerned in the most retired corner of the
room the figure of the deity. It was an uncouth monster, made of
wood, with the head resembling that of a man. This was the god,
through whose lips Satan had breathed forth the far-famed oracles
which had deluded his Indian votaries! *9

[Footnote 9: "Aquel era Pachacama, el cual les sanaba de sus
enfermedades, y a lo que alli se entendio, el Demonio aparecia en
aquella cueba a aquellos sacerdotes y hablaba con ellos, y estos
entraban con las peticiones y ofrendas de los que venian en
romeria, que es cierto que del todo el Senorio de Atabalica iban
alli, como los Moros y Turcos van a la casa de Meca." Relacion
del Primer. Descub., Ms. - Also Estete, ap. Barcia, tom III. p.
209.]

Tearing the idol from its recess, the indignant Spaniards dragged
it into the open air, and there broke it into a hundred
fragments. The place was then purified, and a large cross, made
of stone and plaster, was erected on the spot. In a few years
the walls of the temple were pulled down by the Spanish settlers,
who found there a convenient quarry for their own edifices. But
the cross still remained spreading its broad arms over the ruins.
It stood where it was planted in the very heart of the stronghold
of Heathendom; and, while all was in ruins around it, it
proclaimed the permanent triumphs of the Faith.

The simple natives, finding that Heaven had no bolts in store for
the Conquerors, and that their god had no power to prevent the
profanation of his shrine, came in gradually and tendered their
homage to the strangers, whom they now regarded with feelings of
superstitious awe. Pizarro profited by this temper to wean them,
if possible, from their idolatry; and though no preacher himself,
as he tells us, he delivered a discourse as edifying, doubtless,
as could be expected from the mouth of a soldier; *10 and, in
conclusion, he taught them the sign of the cross, as an
inestimable talisman to secure them against the future
machinations of the Devil. *11

[Footnote 10: "E a falta de predicador les nice mi sermon,
diciendo el engano en que vivian." Carta de Hern. Pizarro, Ms.]

[Footnote 11: Ibid., Ms. - Relacion del Primer. Descub., Ms. -
Estete, ap. Barcia, tom. III. p. 209.]

But the Spanish commander was not so absorbed in his spiritual
labors as not to have an eye to those temporal concerns for which
he came into this quarter. He now found, to his chagrin, that he
had come somewhat too late; and that the priests of Pachacamac,
being advised of his mission, had secured much the greater part
of the gold, and decamped with it before his arrival. A quantity
was afterwards discovered buried in the grounds adjoining. *12
Still the amount obtained was considerable, falling little short
of eighty thousand castellanos, a sum which once would have been
deemed a compensation for greater fatigues than they had
encountered. But the Spaniards had become familiar with gold;
and their imaginations, kindled by the romantic adventures in
which they had of late been engaged, indulged in visions which
all the gold of Peru would scarcely have realized.

[Footnote 12: "Y andando los tiepos el capitan Rodrigo Orgonez, y
Francisco de Godoy, y otros sacaron gra summa de oro y plata de
los enterramientos. Y aun se presume y tiene por cierto, que ay
mucho mas: pero como no se sabe donde esta enterrado, se pierde."
Cieza de Leon, Cronica, cap. 72.]

One prize, however, Hernando obtained by his expedition, which
went far to console him for the loss of his treasure. While at
Pachacamac, he learned that the Indian commander Challcuchima lay
with a large force in the neighbourhood of Xauxa, a town of some
strength at a considerable distance among the mountains. This
man, who was nearly related to Atahuallpa, was his most
experienced general, and together with Quizquiz, now at Cuzco,
had achieved those victories at the south which placed the Inca
on the throne. From his birth, his talents, and his large
experience, he was accounted second to no subject in the kingdom.
Pizarro was aware of the importance of securing his person.
Finding that the Indian noble declined to meet him on his return,
he determined to march at once on Xauxa and take the chief in his
own quarters. Such a scheme, considering the enormous disparity
of numbers, might seem desperate even for Spaniards. But success
had given them such confidence, that they hardly condescended to
calculate chances.
The road across the mountains presented greater difficulties than
those on the former march. To add to the troubles of the
cavalry, the shoes of their horses were worn out, and their hoofs
suffered severely on the rough and stony ground. There was no
iron at hand, nothing but gold and silver. In the present
emergency they turned even these to account; and Pizarro caused
the horses of the whole troop to be shod with silver. The work
was done by the Indian smiths, and it answered so well, that in
this precious material they found a substitute for iron during
the remainder of the march. *13

[Footnote 13: "Hicieron hacer herrage de herraduras e clavos para
sus Caballos de Plata, los cuales hicieron los cien Indios
fundidores muy buenos e cuantos quisieron de ellos, con el cual
herrage andubieron dos meses." (Oviedo, Hist. de las Indias, Ms.,
Parte 3, lib. 8, cap. 16.) The author of the Relacion del Primero
Descubrimento, Ms., says they shod the horses with silver and
copper. And another of the Peruvian Conquerors assures us they
used gold and silver. (Relatione d'un Capitano Spagnuolo, ap
Ramusio, Navigationi et Viaggi, Venetia, 1565, tom. III. fol.
376.) All agree in the silver.]

Xauxa was a large and populous place; though we shall hardly
credit the assertion of the Conquerors, that a hundred thousand
persons assembled habitually in the great square of the city. *14
The Peruvian commander was encamped, it was said, with an army of
five-and-thirty thousand men at only a few miles' distance from
the town With some difficulty he was persuaded to an interview
with Pizarro. The latter addressed him courteously, and urged
his return with him to the Castilian quarters in Caxamalca,
representing it as the command of the Inca. Ever since the
capture of his master, Challcuchima had remained uncertain what
course to take. The capture of the Inca in this sudden and
mysterious manner by a race of beings who seemed to have dropped
from the clouds, and that too in the very hour of his triumph,
had entirely bewildered the Peruvian chief. He had concerted no
plan for the rescue of Atahuallpa, nor, indeed, did he know
whether any such movement would be acceptable to him. He now
acquiesced in his commands, and was willing, at all events, to
have a personal interview with his sovereign. Pizarro gained his
end without being obliged to strike a single blow to effect it.
The barbarian, when brought into contact with the white man,
would seem to have been rebuked by his superior genius, in the
same manner as the wild animal of the forest is said to quail
before the steady glance of the hunter.

[Footnote 14: "Era mucha la Gente de aquel Pueblo, i de sus
Comarcas, que al parecer de los Espanoles, se juntaban cada Dia
en la Placa Principal cien mil Personas." Estete, ap. Barcia,
tom. III. p. 230.]

Challcuchima came attended by a numerous retinue. He was borne
in his sedan on the shoulders of his vassals; and, as he
accompanied the Spaniards on their return through the country,
received everywhere from the inhabitants the homage paid only to
the favorite of a monarch. Yet all this pomp vanished on his
entering the presence of the Inca, whom he approached with his
feet bare, while a light burden, which he had taken from one of
the attendants, was laid on his back. As he drew near, the old
warrior, raising his hands to heaven, exclaimed, - "Would that I
had been here! - this would not then have happened"; then,
kneeling down, he kissed the hands and feet of his royal master,
and bathed them with his tears. Atahuallpa, on his part,
betrayed not the least emotion, and showed no other sign of
satisfaction at the presence of his favorite counsellor, than by
simply bidding him welcome. The cold demeanour of the monarch
contrasted strangely with the loyal sensibility of the subject.
*15

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

"The like of it," exclaims Estete. "was never before seen since
the Indies were discovered." Ibid., p. 231.]

The rank of the Inca placed him at an immeasurable distance above
the proudest of his vassals; and the Spaniards had repeated
occasion to admire the ascendency which, even in his present
fallen fortunes, he maintained over his people, and the awe with
which they approached him. Pedro Pizarro records an interview,
at which he was present, between Atahuallpa and one of his great
nobles, who had obtained leave to visit some remote part of the
country on condition of returning by a certain day. He was
detained somewhat beyond the appointed time, and, on entering the
presence with a small propitiatory gift for his sovereign, his
knees shook so violently, that it seemed, says the chronicler, as
if he would have fallen to the ground. His master, however,
received him kindly, and dismissed him without a word of rebuke.
*16

[Footnote 16: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. Conq., Ms.]

Atahuallpa in his confinement continued to receive the same
respectful treatment from the Spaniards as hitherto. They taught
him to play with dice, and the more intricate game of chess, in
which the royal captive became expert, and loved to be guile with
it the tedious hours of his imprisonment. Towards his own people
he maintained as far as possible his wonted state and ceremonial.
He was attended by his wives and the girls of his harem, who, as
was customary, waited on him at table and discharged the other
menial offices about his person. A body of Indian nobles were
stationed in the antechamber, but never entered the presence
unbidden; and when they did enter it, they submitted to the same
humiliating ceremonies imposed on the greatest of his subjects.
The service of his table was gold and silver plate. His dress,
which he often changed, was composed of the wool of the vicuna
wrought into mantles, so fine that it had the appearance of silk.
He sometimes exchanged these for a robe made of the skins of
bats, as soft and sleek as velvet. Round his head he wore the
llautu, a woollen turban or shawl of the most delicate texture,
wreathed in folds of various bright colors; and he still
continued to encircle his temples with the borla, the crimson
threads of which, mingled with gold, descended so as partly to
conceal his eyes The image of royalty had charms for him, when
its substance had departed. No garment or utensil that had once
belonged to the Peruvian sovereign could ever be used by another.
When he laid it aside, it was carefully deposited in a chest,
kept for the purpose, and afterwards burned. It would have been
sacrilege to apply to vulgar uses that which had been consecrated
by the touch of the Inca. *17