Of the other villages between Llacta-cunga and Riobamba; and of what
passed between the Adelantado Don Pedro de Alvarado and the Marshal Don
Diego de Almagro.
After travelling for some distance beyond Llacta-cunga, along the royal
road which leads to the great city of Cuzco, the buildings of Muliambato
are reached, concerning which I have nothing more to say than that they
are inhabited by Indians of the same nation and customs as those of
Llacta-cunga. There were ordinary buildings at this station, where
stores were deposited according to the orders of the officer delegated
by the Ynca, who obeyed the principal superintendent at Llacta-cunga.
The chiefs looked to large stations, such as Quito, Tumebamba,
Caxamarca, Xauxa, Vilcas, or Paria, and others of the same rank for
orders. These stations were like the seat of a bishopric, or the capital
of a kingdom, which gave the tone to all the parts, and whence came the
officers who administered justice, or formed armies in case of war or
insurrection. Nevertheless affairs of great difficulty or importance
were not decided upon without a reference to the Kings Yncas. The
transmission of these references was arranged with such skill and order,
that the post went from Quito to Cuzco in eight days. Every half-league
along the road there was a small house, where there were always two
Indians with their wives. One of these ran with the news that had to be
transmitted, and, before reaching the next house, he called it out to
the other runner, who at once set off running the other half-league, and
this is done with such swiftness that neither mules nor horses could go
over such rocky ground in a shorter time.[282] But, as in the book of
the Kings Yncas (which is the one that, with the help of God, will
appear after this) I treat fully of these posts, I will not say more
here, my present intention being merely to make things clear to the
readers’ understanding.
From Muliambato the road leads to the river called Ambato, where there
are also buildings which served the same purpose as those already
described. Three leagues from this place are the splendid buildings of
Mocha, which are so numerous and so grand, that I was astonished at the
sight of them; but, now that the Kings Yncas have lost their power, all
these palaces and buildings, with other grand works of theirs, have
fallen into ruin, so that the vestiges of some of these edifices alone
remain. As they are built of very beautiful stone, and as the masonry is
excellent, they will endure for ages as memorials, without being
entirely destroyed.
Round Mocha there are several villages where the inhabitants and their
women all go dressed. Their customs and language are the same as those
of the Indians we have left behind.
To the westward are the villages of Indians called Sichos, and to the
east are the Pillaros. All these have great store of provisions, because
their land is very fertile, and flocks of deer, some sheep of the kind
called Peruvian, many rabbits, partridges, doves, and other game.
Besides these, the Spaniards have large herds of cattle in all the
plains and villages, and they breed extensively by reason of the
excellent pasture. There are also goats, the country being well suited
for them; and better swine than in any other part of the Indies, and
they make as good ham and bacon as in the Sierra Morena.
Leaving Mocha, the great buildings of Riobamba are reached, which are
not less worthy to be seen than those of Mocha. They are in the province
of the Puruaes, in the midst of beautiful plains, very similar to those
of Spain in climate, in the flowers and grasses, and in other things, as
every one knows who has travelled over them.
For some days the city of Quito was established at Riobamba, before it
was removed to its present site. But the buildings at Riobamba are more
memorable for another event. The Adelantado Don Pedro de Alvarado,
formerly governor of the province of Guatemala, which borders on the
great kingdom of New Spain, set out with a fleet of ships filled with
many knights (concerning whom I shall treat fully in the third part of
this work), and landed on the coast, where the fame of Quito reached the
Spaniards. They marched inland by difficult and rugged forests, where
they suffered from hunger and other hardships. I cannot and ought not to
pass on without saying something concerning the evils and miseries which
these Spaniards, and all others, suffered in the discovery of these
Indies, because I hold it for very certain that no nation that has ever
been in the world has passed through so much. It is a thing well worthy
of note that, in less than sixty years, a navigation so long, and a land
so vast and so full of different tribes should have been discovered, the
way leading through dense and dismal forests, and over deserts without
roads; and that these countries should have been conquered, and more
than two hundred cities founded in them. Surely those who have done this
deserve great praise and everlasting fame, far more than my memory knows
how to imagine, nor my weak hand to write. One thing is very certain,
that the followers of Alvarado suffered so much on this road from hunger
and fatigue, that many of them cast aside gold and precious emeralds,
from want of strength to carry them. As soon as the arrival of the
Adelantado Don Pedro de Alvarado was known in Cuzco, through evidence
brought by Gabriel de Rojas,[283] the governor, Don Francisco Pizarro,
although he was occupied in peopling that city with Christians, set out
to take possession of the coasts of the South Sea; while he ordered his
companion, the marshal Don Diego de Almago, to march in all haste to the
province of Quito, place himself at the head of the troops then under
the orders of his lieutenant, the captain Sebastian de Belalcazar, and
take every necessary precaution. By hasty marches the diligent marshal
arrived in the province of Quito, and took command of the troops that
he found there, speaking sharply to the captain Belalcazar for having
left Tangaraca without orders from the governor.
The Adelantado Don Pedro de Alvarado, accompanied by Don Diego de
Alvarado, Gomez de Alvarado, Alonzo de Alvarado, who is now marshal of
Peru,[284] the captain Garcilasso de la Vega,[285] Juan de
Saavedra,[286] and other knights of high rank, arrived in the
neighbourhood of the camp of the marshal Don Diego de Almagro. There
was some danger of a rupture between them; but at last, by the
intervention of the licentiate Caldera and other prudent persons, it was
agreed that the Adelantado should leave the fleet of ships he had
brought, with the arms and troops, in Peru, and that, in consideration
of the expenses of the expedition, he should receive one hundred
thousand _castellanos_.[287] This capitulation having been agreed to,
the marshal took the troops into his service, and the Adelantado
proceeded to the City of the Kings, where the governor Don Francisco
Pizarro received him with the distinction that was due to so valorous a
captain as Don Pedro de Alvarado. He received the one hundred thousand
_castellanos_, and returned to his government of Guatemala. The
agreement and capitulation above-mentioned was made and agreed to in the
buildings of Riobamba, concerning which I am now treating. It was also
here that the captain Belalcazar, who was afterwards governor of the
province of Popayan, fought a battle with the Indians, in which, after
many of them had been killed, the victory remained with the Christians.