Having arrived at a village, they find much silver in plates
twenty-feet long. Proceeding on their journey, they receive letters
from the Spaniards relating the brisk and adverse struggle they had
had against the army of the Indians.
Here were found two dead horses,[48] from which it was suspected that
some misfortune had befallen the captain. But, having entered the
village, they learned, from a letter that arrived before they retired
for the night, that the captain had here encountered some warriors, and
that, in order to gain the mountain, he had gone up a slope where he had
found assembled a great quantity of stone, a sign which showed that they
[the Indians] wished to guard [the pass], and that they were gone in
search of [other] Indians because they had warning that [the Spaniards]
were not far off and that the two horses had died of so many changes
from heat to cold. He [the captain] wrote nothing of the aid which the
Governor had sent to him, because of which it was thought that it had
not yet arrived. The next day the Governor set out from there, and slept
[the next night] by a river whose bridge had been burned by the enemy,
so that it was necessary to ford it, with great fatigue on account of
the fact that the current was very swift and the bottom very stony. On
the next day, they encamped at a town in the houses of which was found
much silver in large slabs twenty feet long, one broad, and one or two
fingers thick. And the Indians who were there related that those slabs
belonged to a great cacique and that one of the lords of Cuzco had won
them and had carried them off thus in plates, together with those of
which the conquered cacique had built a house.[49] The next day, the
Governor set out in order to cross the last bridge, which was almost
three leagues from there. Before he arrived at that river, a messenger
came with a letter from the captain in which he informed him that he had
arrived at the last bridge with great speed in order that the enemy
should not have opportunity to burn it; but that, at the time of his
arrival there, they had finished burning it, and as it was already late,
he did not wish to cross the river that same day, but had gone to camp
in a village which was nearby. The next day, he [the captain] had passed
through the water, which came to the breasts of the horses, and had
proceeded straight along the road to Cuzco which was twelve leagues from
there; and as, on the way, he was informed that, on a neighbouring
mountain [where] forts had been built, all the enemies were hoping that
the next day Quizquiz would come to their aid with reenforcements from
the troops which he had in Cuzco, for this reason he [the captain] had
spurred ahead with all speed together with fifty horsemen,[50] for ten
had been left guarding the baggage and certain gold which had been
found in the rout of Bilcas. And one Saturday, at noon, they had begun
to go up on horseback a slope which lasted well over a league, and,
being wearied by the sharp ascent and by the mid-day heat, which was
very great, they stopped awhile and gave to the horses some maize which
they had because the natives of a village nearby had brought it to them.
Then, proceeding on their journey, the captain, who rode a cross-bow
shot ahead, saw the enemy on the summit of the mountain, which they
entirely covered, and [he saw] that three or four thousand were coming
down in order to pass the point where they [the Spaniards] were. Because
of this, although he called to the Spaniards to put themselves in
battle-array, he could not hope to join them, because the Indians were
already very near and were coming with great rapidity. But with those
who were in readiness, he advanced to give battle [to the Indians], and
the Spaniards who kept coming up mounted the slope of the mountain, some
on one hand, others on the other. They dashed among those of the enemy
who were foremost without waiting for the beginning of the fight, save
for defending themselves against the stones which were hurled upon them,
until they mounted to the summit of the mountain, in which deed they
thought they saw a certain victory to be accomplished. The horses were
so tired that they could not get breath in order to attack with
impetuosity such a multitude of enemies, nor did the latter cease to
inconvenience and harass them continually with the lances stones and
arrows which they hurled at them, so they fatigued all to such an extent
that the riders could hardly keep their horses at the trot or even at
the pace. The Indians, perceiving the weariness of the horses, began to
charge with greater fury, and five Christians, whose horses could not go
up to the summit of the slope, were charged so furiously by so many of
the throng that to two of them it was impossible to alight, and they
were killed upon their horses. The others fought on foot very
valorously, but at length, not being seen by any companions who could
bring them aid, they remained prisoners, and only one was killed without
being able to lay hand upon his sword or to defend himself, the cause of
which was that a good soldier was left dead beside him, the tail of his
horse having been seized which prevented his going ahead with the rest.
They [the Indians] opened the heads of all by means of their battle-axes
and clubs; they wounded eighteen horses and six Christians; but none of
the wounds were dangerous save those of one horse which died of them. It
pleased God Our Lord that the Spaniards should gain a plain which was
near that mountain, and the Indians collected on a hill nearby. The
captain commanded half of his men to take the bridles off their horses
and let them drink in a rivulet that ran there, and then to do the same
for the other half, which was done without being hindered by the
enemies. Then, the captain said to all: "Gentlemen, let us withdraw from
here step by step down this declivity in such a way that the enemy may
think that we are fleeing from them, in order that they may come in
search of us below, for, if we can attract them to this plain, we will
attack them all of a sudden in such a manner that I hope not one of them
will escape from our hands. Our horses are already somewhat tired, and
if we put the enemy to flight, we shall end by gaining the summit of the
mountain." And thus it was that some of the Indians, thinking that the
Spaniards were retreating, came down below, throwing stones at them,
with their slings, and shooting arrows.[51] When this was seen by the
Christians, [they knew] that now was their time, [and] they turned their
horses' heads, and before the Indians could gather together on the
mountain where they were before, some twenty of them were killed. When
this was seen by the others, and when they perceived that there was
little safety in the place where they were, they left that mountain and
retired to another one which was higher. The captain, with his men,
finished climbing the mountain, and there, because it was already night,
he camped with his soldiers. The Indians also camped two cross-bow shots
away, in such a manner that in either camp could be heard the voices in
the other. The captain caused the wounds to be cared for and posted
patrols and sentinels for the night, and he ordered that all the horses
were to remain saddled and bridled until the following day, on which he
was to fight with the Indians. And he tried to cheer his men up and
renew their valor, saying: "that by all means it was necessary to attack
the enemy the following morning without delaying an instant, because he
had news that the captain Quizquiz was coming with great reenforcements,
and by no means should they wait until he joined forces with them." All
showed as much spirits and confidence as if they already had the victory
in their hands, and again the captain comforted them, saying: "he held
the day just passed through to be more perilous than that which awaited
them on the morrow, and that God Our Lord who had delivered them from
danger in the past would grant them victory in the future, and that they
should look to it whether, on the day before, when their horses were so
weary, they had attacked their enemies with disadvantage and had routed
them and driven them from their fortresses, even though their own number
did not exceed fifty, and that of the enemy eight thousand; ought they
not, then, to hope for victory when they were fresh and rested?" With
these and other spirited conversations, that night was passed, and the
Indians were in their own camp, uttering cries and saying: "Wait,
Christians, until dawn, when you are all to die, and we shall take away
from you just as many horses as you have!"[52] and they added insulting
words in their language having determined to enter into combat with the
Christians as soon as it should dawn, believing them and their horses to
be weary on account of the toil of the day before and because they saw
them to be so few in numbers and because they knew that many of the
horses were wounded. In this manner the same thought prevailed on the
one side and on the other, but the Indians firmly believed that the
Christians would not escape from them.[53]