Description of the bridges which the natives are wont to make in
order to cross the rivers; and of the toilsome journey which the
Spaniards had, in going to Cuzco, and of the arrival at Panarai and
Tarcos.
This captain departed with those who were to follow him on Thursday, and
the Governor with the rest of the troops, and Chilichuchima with his
guard left the following Monday. In the morning they were all ready with
their arms and other necessary things; the journey they were to make
being long, they were to leave all the baggage in Xauxa, it not being
convenient to carry it with them on that journey. The Governor journeyed
two days down the valley along the bank of the Xauxa River, which was
very delectable and peopled in many places, and on the third day he
arrived at a bridge of net-work which is over the said river and which
the Indian soldiers had burned after they crossed over, but already the
captain who had gone ahead had made the natives rebuild it. And in the
places where they build these bridges of net-work, where the rivers are
swollen, this inland country far from the sea being densely populated,
and because almost none of the Indians knows how to swim, because of
which even though the rivers are small and might be forded, they
nevertheless throw out these bridges, and after this fashion; If the two
banks of the river are stony, they raise upon them large walls of stone,
and then they place four [ropes of] pliable reeds two palms or a little
less in thickness, and between them, after the fashion of wattle-work,
they weave green osiers two fingers thick and well intertwined, in such
a way that some are not left more slack than others, and all are well
tied. And upon these they place branches crosswise in such a way that
the water is not seen, and in this way they make the floor of the
bridge. And in the same manner they weave a balustrade of these same
osiers along the side of the bridge so that no one may fall into the
water, of which, in truth, there is no danger, although to one who is
not used to it, the matter of crossing appears a thing of danger
because, the span being long, the bridge bends when one goes over it, so
that one goes continually downward until the middle is reached, and from
there he keeps going up until he has finished crossing to the other
bank, and when the bridge is being crossed, it trembles very much, so
that it goes to the head of him who is not accustomed to it. Ordinarily
they make two bridges close together, so that, as they say, the lords
may cross by one and the common people by another. They keep guards over
them, and the lords of all the land keep them there continuously in
order that if someone should steal gold or silver or anything else from
him or from some other lord of the land, he would not be able to cross.
And those who guard these bridges have their houses nearby, and they
always have in their hands osiers and wattles and cords in order to mend
the bridges if they are injured or even to rebuild them if need were.
The guards who were in charge of this bridge when the Indians who burned
it passed over, hid the materials which they had for mending it, for
otherwise the Indians would have burned them also, and for this reason
they rebuilt it in so short a space of time in order that the Spaniards
might cross over. The Spanish cavalry and the Governor crossed by one of
these bridges, although, on account of its being new and not well made,
they had much trouble because the captain who had gone ahead with
seventy cavalrymen had made many holes in it so that it was half
destroyed. Still, the horses got over without endangering themselves,
although nearly all stumbled because the bridge moved and trembled so,
but, as I have said, the bridge was made in such a way that even though
they were thrown upon their knees, they could not fall into the water.
As soon as all were over, the Governor encamped in some groves near
which ran some streams of beautiful clear water. Later they proceeded
on their journey two leagues along the shore of that river through a
narrow valley on both sides of which were very high mountains, and in
some places, this valley through which the river passes has so little
space that there is not more than a stone's throw from the foot of the
mountain to the river, and in other places, because of the slope of the
mountain, there is but little more. Two leagues of this valley having
been travelled, they came to another bridge, a small one over another
river, over which the troops passed on foot while the horses forded, as
much on account of the bridge being in bad order as on account of the
fact that the water was low at that time. Having crossed the river, he
[the Governor] began to climb a very steep and long mountain all made of
steps of very small stones.[35] Here the horses toiled so much that,
when they had finished going up, the greater part of them had lost their
shoes and worn down the hoofs of all four feet. That mountain, which
lasted for more than half a league, having been overcome, and having
journeyed for a bit in the evening along a slope, the Governor with his
men arrived at a village which the hostile Indians had sacked and
burned, on account of which neither people nor maize was found in it,
nor any other food, and the water was very far off because the Indians
had broken the aqueducts which came to the city, which was a great evil
and of much inconvenience for the Spaniards who, because they had found
the road hard, toilsome and long on that day, needed good lodging. The
next day the Governor set out from there and went to sleep in another
village which, although it was very large and fine and full of houses,
had as little food in it as the last one; and this village is called
Panarai. The Governor wondered greatly with his men at finding here
neither food nor anything else, because this place belonged to one of
the lords who had been with Atabalipa and with the dead lord in the
company of the Christians, and he had come in their company as far as
Xauxa, [where] he said he wished to go ahead in order to prepare in this
land his victuals and other things necessary for the Spaniards. And when
they found here neither him nor his people, it was held to be certain
that the country-side had revolted. And not having had any letter from
the captain who had gone ahead with the seventy horsemen, save which let
them know that he was going right after the hostile Indians, it was
feared that the foe had taken some step whereby he was prevented from
sending any messenger. The Spaniards sought so much, that they found
some maize and ewes, ... and the next day, early, they set out and
arrived at a village called Tarcos, where they met the cacique of the
district and some men who told them of the day on which had passed that
way some Christians who were going to fight with the enemy who had
established their camp in a neighboring settlement. All received this
news with great pleasure, and they found a good reception in that
place, because the cacique had brought to the plaza a large quantity of
maize, fire-wood, ewes, and other things of which the Spaniards had
great need.