My readers must endeavour to remember the description I gave of the
situation of our house, at the commencement of my work. We were all
seated in the same room in which the fugitive Manco first appeared to
us. Our early dinner was just over; and though we did not indulge in
the Spanish custom of the _siesta_, it was a time that we generally
refrained from active exertion, and employed it in reading or some
sedentary occupation. I had just laid down my book, and was looking out
of the window down the valley, when on the lower country beyond, an
unusual glitter of something which seemed to be moving along the road
attracted my eye. I watched it attentively. Now the glittering object,
which appeared in a long thin line, rose, and now it fell, as it wound
its way over the uneven ground. At length I called my father's
attention to it. As soon as he saw it, his more practised eye knew what
it was.
"A body of troops!" he exclaimed. "They are marching in this direction,
and are probably bound across the mountain."
We all now engaged in watching the advance of the soldiers, on whose
bayonets the sun shining had first drawn my attention; and many were the
surmises as to the reason of their coming to our remote locality. On
they came, growing more and more distinct. First a dark mass appeared
below the shining steel; then we perceived that it was composed of human
beings, though still mingled together in a dense body. Next their
banners and several officers on horseback were seen; and soon we could
distinguish the hats and cross belts, and the colour of the uniform of
the advanced guard. They were marching as rapidly as the nature of the
ground would allow.
My father's military ardour was aroused at the sight. He seized his hat
and rushed out to a spot beyond the walls, whence he could command a
clear view both up and down the valley. I followed him, and we stood
together on the knoll watching the advancing troops. What was our
surprise, however, to find, that instead of proceeding along the road
over the mountains, the advanced guard began to mount the path leading
to the height on which our house stood! At the same instant, happening
to turn my head towards the mountain, I saw descending it, at a rapid
pace, a person whom I recognised as Ithulpo. He rushed on, leaping from
rock to rock at the risk of instant destruction. Nothing served to
impede his course. Life and death depended on him. He had discovered
the soldiers. For an instant he stopped, as if to consider whether he
could reach us before they did. Then on again he came as fast as
before. He was almost breathless when he arrived.
"Call in all the people, and shut the gates and doors!" he exclaimed,
panting as he spoke. "The soldiers will destroy you all without mercy
if they once gain an entrance. Hold out but a short hour or less, and a
force will be here which will drive back our enemies to the sea."
My father, astounded at what he heard, considered what was best to be
done. The advanced guard was already nearly half way up the hill. If
we attempted to block out the Spaniards, it would at once be
acknowledging ourselves guilty of some crime; but if we let them in,
unless Ithulpo deceived us, we might be subjected to ill-treatment. At
the utmost, with the few servants and some Indians who happened to be in
the house, we could not hope to hold out many minutes against the
formidable force now approaching.
"Do you hesitate?" exclaimed Ithulpo vehemently. "I tell you, Senor, I
speak the truth. Ah, there comes the army of the Inca! Death to the
tyrants of Peru."
As he spoke, he pointed up the mountain, when I saw, winding among the
rocks, a large body of Indians. Every instant others appeared, till the
surrounding heights and the whole gorge, through which the road wound,
was covered with them. They rushed impetuously down the mountain side,
a strong body making evidently for our house. The Spaniards, who had
also discovered them, redoubled their efforts to climb the mountain, for
the purpose, it was also very clear, of occupying the house before the
Indians could reach it.
The Indians were armed with firelocks of every sort and size, and of
curious antique forms, hoarded up with jealous care by father and son
for many a long year, to be ready for the days of retribution, which
they hoped had now arrived. A large proportion, however, had only clubs
and spears, and bows and arrows, and slings of the same description as
those used by their ancestors when they first encountered the Spaniards.
To counterbalance in a degree their deficiency, they had a few light
mountain guns, carried on the backs of mules, engines of warfare which
their enemies did not suspect them of possessing.
Their costume also was equally a mixture of the ancient and modern.
Some were dressed in skins, with their hair long, and the upper part of
their bodies painted in many colours. These were some of the wild
tribes from a distance, who had never been subdued. Others wore a sort
of armour of leather or cotton, thickly padded, with shields of hides,
and a profusion of feather ornaments; while most of those who carried
firearms, and were from the more civilised districts, were clothed in
garments of various coloured cottons, or had retained the ordinary dress
of the present day. It must be understood that I learned most of these
particulars afterwards, for they were still too far off for me to
observe either their arms or dress.
On they came with the most terrific shouts, such as I did not think them
capable of uttering. It appeared as if they were giving vent to their
feelings of hatred and revenge, pent up for centuries. My father stood
for an instant watching the two advancing forces, and considering what
course to pursue to preserve his family from the dangers of the conflict
which it was evident would soon be raging around us.
"Into the house, David," he exclaimed; "Ithulpo's advice must be
followed. We will keep both parties out as long as we can."
We were quickly inside the gates, and lost not a moment in calling the
servants together, and in bolting and barring all the doors, and in
putting up shutters to the windows. We found Ithulpo in the house. He
said he had been ordered by his chief to remain with as till we were in
safety. My mother, whom he had warned of what was about to occur,
though alarmed for the safety of her children, did not lose her presence
of mind, but went round encouraging the servants to remain firm and obey
their orders. Ithulpo hurried here and there, directing and aiding the
other men in preparing for a defence should the house be attacked.
In a few minutes all the arrangements which with the means at our
disposal we could hope to make, were concluded; and I had time to look
out from a loophole in the side of the roof, to see how near the two
parties had approached. I first turned my eyes to the eastward towards
the mountains, where, to my surprise, I found that the Indians, instead
of rushing on at once to meet their enemies, had drawn up in battle
array, quietly watching their advance. Had they come on at once, their
numbers alone, it appeared to me, would have overwhelmed the Spaniards.
They held a position, however, from which it would, I saw, be impossible
to dislodge them, and effectually blocked up the passage across the
mountain. Their appearance was very picturesque, from the variety of
their costumes, and the numberless banners under which each cacique had
mustered his followers. Conspicuous among them was one which I
recognised as that of the Incas, once more raised to meet the hereditary
foes of their race. I next looked down the valley. The advanced guard
of the Spaniards had just reached the brow of the hill, and would, I
calculated, in three or four minutes be close to our gates. Under these
circumstances, an attempt to prevent them from entering the house would,
of course, be considered an act of open defiance of the authority of the
Spanish Government, which it would, I felt, be next to madness to make;
and I therefore hurried down from my post to tell my father how matters
stood.
"We have but one course to pursue," he replied, when I told him what I
had observed. "I will trust to your courage and judgment, David; I will
stay to open our gates to the Spaniards, while you take charge of your
mother and the children, and conduct them down by the secret passage
which leads out at the side of the mountain. She has already packed up
her jewels and the most portable valuables we possess. Go and prepare
her to set out the moment the soldiers reach the gate. Collect some
torches. Tell Ithulpo. He will accompany you, and protect you should
you fall in with any straggling parties of Indians. I will endeavour to
join you as soon as I can escape without being observed, which I very
soon, I doubt not, shall have an opportunity of doing."
"No, no, father, I will obey you in everything but that," I replied.
"Let me remain to receive the soldiers, while you escort my mother and
brothers and sisters to a place of safety."
I so earnestly argued the point, that at length my father saw that I was
right; besides, as I observed, if the Spaniards accused us of siding
with the rebels, I was much less likely, on account of my youth, to be
ill-treated by them than he would be.
Scarcely had he agreed to my wishes, than a loud knocking was heard at
the gates.
"Heaven protect you, my boy!" he exclaimed, as he hurried off to conduct
my mother with the children and the females of the family down the
secret passage.
So unexpectedly had the events I have described occurred, and so
occupied had we been, that there was no time for leave-taking, scarcely
even to comprehend the full extent of the danger to which we were
exposed. There had been no weeping or lamentation, or any other sign of
alarm; for the women, all looking up to my mother, and seeing her so
fearless, seemed only anxious to follow her directions. I watched them
crowding after her to the door of the passage. Some carried the
children, and others baskets of provisions, and light articles of value
which she wished to preserve. My father led the way, and Ithulpo and
Jose brought up the rear with a bundle of torches.
As soon as they had disappeared, I ran towards the gates, calling on
some of the remaining servants to assist me in opening them. Before,
however, I had reached the gateway, the most terrific shouts and shrieks
I had ever heard assailed my ears. I at once divined the cause. The
Indians had at length understood the purpose of the Spaniards, and had
made an advance to intercept them. The soldiers were now thundering at
the gates, in an attempt to force them open, with the butt-ends of their
muskets. On finding this, I naturally became alarmed, lest, as I
withdrew the bars while they rushed in, they would trample me down, and
perhaps kill me; yet I felt that it would be cowardly to expose others
to a danger I was ready to avoid if I could. I therefore called on the
servants to aid me in removing some of the stout bars and withdrawing
the bolts, knowing that the people outside would quickly force open the
rest.
"We are opening the gates, my friends," I shouted. "Quick, quick!"
Scarcely had the bars been removed than the gates began to give way. We
leaped aside into a recess of the hall, and the soldiers rushed in,
uttering loud imprecations on us for having so long delayed them. Had
they seen us, I believe they would have knocked us on the head; but
fortunately they were in too great a hurry to take possession of the
house to look for us. There were in all not more than a hundred men; a
small garrison for so extensive a range of buildings. The rest of the
troops had, I found, advanced up the mountain, in an attempt to force
the passage across it. From the strong array of Indians I had seen
posted there, I considered that in this they would be disappointed. The
first thing the soldiers did on entering the house, was to find their
way to that side facing the mountains. Some stationed themselves at the
windows, through the shutters of which they forced holes to admit the
muzzles of their muskets; while others took up a strong position in the
court-yard, whence they could annoy the advancing enemy. Their hurried
arrangements had scarcely been concluded, when the Indians in strong
force rushed to the walls, uttering the most dreadful shouts of defiance
and hatred. The Spaniards reserved their fire till they came close upon
them. The word was given by the officer in command, and a volley was
poured in upon them which proved fatal to many; yet the rest came on
undauntedly to the attack. I had intended to have followed my family
into the vaults, and I should have been wiser had I done so; but a
strong desire to see the fight, not unnatural to one of my age and
temper, kept me back; and having escaped the observation of the
soldiers, I had clambered up to the roof, where, through a small window,
I could see all that was going forward. It was a post I very soon found
of considerable danger, for, when the Indians began to fire, the bullets
came rattling about my head very thick. What had become of the Indian
servants I could not tell; but I concluded that they had wisely betaken
themselves to the vaults, or to some other place of safety.
I must observe that on either side the walls of the outbuildings and
gardens extended across the hill to the summit of precipitous cliffs, so
that the Indians could not get round to attack the house in the rear
without clambering over these impediments. As, however, the line was
very extended, it required great activity and vigilance on the part of
the Spaniards to defend it. Several parties, of ten or fifteen men
each, were employed in continually moving about from place to place
whenever any of the enemy showed a disposition to scale the walls. The
main attack of the Indians was, however, directed against the house
itself; indeed it was only subsequently that any attempts were made at
other points. The Indian chiefs showed the most undaunted bravery; and,
though singled out by the Spaniards for destruction, they were always in
the thickest of the fight, and exposed to the hottest fire. I looked in
vain for my friend Manco; and at first I was afraid that he might have
been killed, till it occurred to me that he was probably with the main
body of the army defending the mountain pass.
I must now more particularly describe the scene as I beheld it from my
lofty post. I could tolerably well tell what was going on inside, from
the sounds which reached my ears. There was a gate in the east wall
about the centre of the house, to force which the Indians in the first
place directed their efforts, undaunted by the fire of the Spaniards,
they brought up a sort of battering-ram, composed of the roughly-shaped
trunk of a newly-felled tree, slung by ropes to men's shoulders. They
were led by a chief in the full war costume of the time of the Incas.
Notwithstanding the showers of bullets flying round him, he remained
unharmed, encouraging his followers by word and action to the assault.
If one fell, his place was instantly supplied by another, till the
battering-ram reached the gate. Several thundering blows were heard
above the rattle of musketry, the shouts of the assailants, and the
cries of the wounded, as the engine was set to work. The gate yielded
to the blows, for it was old and decayed; and the Indians rushed in.
Several fell pierced by the pikes of the Spaniards who guarded it, but
many others pressed on, and the soldiers were driven back. The
court-yard was soon filled, and at length the Peruvians met the
hereditary enemies of their race, face to face, in a struggle for life
and death. The Spaniards who had been left to guard the walls of the
garden rallied, and attempted in a compact body to enter the house by
one of the side doors; but the Indians threw themselves in their way,
and attacked them with a courage I scarcely expected to see exercised.
They rushed in upon them, some seizing the muzzles of their muskets,
while others cut at them with their axes, or pierced them with their
spears. The Spaniards endeavoured to preserve their discipline; but
they were at length broken and separated into parties of twos and
threes, surrounded by Indians, who filled the entire court-yard, so that
the combatants were now engaged in hand-to-hand fights, when it was
evident that numbers would gain the day. I had a strange longing, as I
witnessed the dreadful scene, to rush down and join the fight. My
sympathies were, I own, with the Indians; but still I felt if I had
thrown myself among them, I might have sided with the weaker party. I
did not, however, attempt to move. The very action would have called me
to my senses, and reminded me of the folly of interference. A number of
the Spaniards had fallen, and were instantly despatched and trampled on
by the infuriated Indians. At last a few, by desperate efforts, again
united, and fought their way up to the house; when some of the garrison,
who had been anxiously watching them, made a sortie by a side door, and
succeeded in keeping the enemy at bay, while the greater number,
desperately wounded, retired inside. For a minute, from the rush the
Indians made towards the door, I thought that they had succeeded in
entering at the same time, and I expected to hear the sounds of strife
below me; but the soldiers drove them back, and once more shut
themselves in.
Meantime the assault on the front of the house was going on vigorously.
An attempt was made to bring the battering-ram into play; but so many of
the people working it were shot, that it was allowed to drop close to
the wall. It served, however, as a sort of platform, from whence some
of the Indians could throw their spears into the crevices of the
windows, while others attempted to force them open with their clubs, and
those armed with muskets continued a hot fire from the walls, and from
every spot where they could find shelter. From the groans I heard from
below, it was evident that many of the shots had pierced the shutters
and wounded the defenders of the house.
While the scenes I have described were going on in my immediate
vicinity, I observed that in the distance the main body of the Indians
were engaged in a hot engagement with the troops who had marched towards
the pass. The light artillery of the former, though of no use for
distant firing, had been judiciously placed in commanding positions, and
masked with breastworks of stone and earth hastily thrown up. Their
fire was reserved till the Spaniards got close to them; then from each
battery the iron shower went forth, sweeping through the ranks of the
Spanish troops. I could see them waver and attempt to turn back; but
urged on by their officers, they again advanced. A portion attempted to
storm the heights on which the cannon were posted; but thousands of
Indians were behind the batteries, and they were driven back with great
slaughter. Still the rest marched on. Sometimes they were concealed
from my sight, and I could only judge by the movements of the Indians on
the higher ground that the fight was continuing; then again a turn of
the path brought them once more in view. Their numbers were fast
diminishing; but pride, and contempt for a race they had for so long
been taught to despise, urged them forward. They fancied probably that
they must prove victorious as soon as they could come into actual
contact with their foes. They were now also fighting for life as well
as honour; for if driven back, few would expect to escape after the
reception they had already met with. Every instant, however, fresh
bodies of Indians sprung up above and around them. On every height
warriors were posted, every rock concealed an enemy.
My attention was now drawn off from the more distant scene by what was
going on below me. The Indians having penetrated through the gardens,
now entirely surrounded the house; and it required all the vigilance of
those within to repel them. I could hear those below rushing about to
each assailable point as their presence was most required; the officers
shouted their orders, bullets rattled through the house, and the heavy
blows of clubs and axes sounded on every side, while the whole house was
filled with the smoke of the firearms. When, however, after some time,
the Indian? found that they could not gain an entrance in this manner
without great loss, they retired behind the outer walls of the garden,
and a comparative silence succeeded to the previous din of warfare. It
was but preparatory to another more desperate attempt. From the
mountain side I saw a fresh body of men advancing, who bore among them
ladders roughly formed out of young fir-trees. It was evident that they
intended to climb to the roof for the purpose of making an entrance
through it, and dropping down upon the garrison. I foresaw that if they
did so, the sacrifice of life must be very great, though they would
ultimately succeed; for the Spaniards could scarcely defend themselves
if attacked from above as well as on every side.
I now began to repent of my folly in having remained behind; but as I
had hitherto been unhurt by the bullets, which were striking the roof
and walls on every side of me, I fancied that I should yet escape. I
tried to consider what I had best do, and came to the conclusion that it
would be wiser to remain where I was. If I should be recognised by any
of the Indians, I had no fear of their injuring me; but in the confusion
and heat of the fight I could scarcely expect to be so, and I felt that
I must run all the risks of the assault if they should succeed in their
object. I almost hoped that they would give up the attempt, and allow
the Spaniards to escape. The success, however, of the main body of
their army encouraged them to persevere.
As far as I could judge at that distance, the troops were completely
hemmed in, and were fighting for their lives, not to advance, but to
return down the mountain. Should the house be taken, all hopes of their
so doing would be lost, as it would leave the besiegers at liberty to
descend by the path leading to it, and to cut off all those who might
escape.
I was not left long in doubt. By making a circuit to the left, the
ladders were brought to a gable end of the house where there were no
windows. The Spaniards must have seen the ladders, but they had no
means of attacking those destined to mount them unless by making a
_sortie_; and this, with their diminished numbers, they were probably
afraid of attempting. The tramp of some men on the steps leading to the
roof, showed me that they were aware of what was about to take place,
but they were too late. The Indians had already begun to tear off the
tiles, and the soldiers who appeared were received with the discharge of
a dozen muskets close to their faces. Many fell; the rest attempted to
retreat, and were precipitated to the floor below. The Indians swarmed
up in numbers, and filled the whole upper story. I stood concealed in a
small closet which had not been entered. Just then I perceived, besides
the smoke of gunpowder, a cloud of greater density ascending through the
floor, and a strong smell of burning wood.
"Merciful heaven!" I exclaimed, "the house is on fire!"
The Indians discovered what was the case at the same time, and rushed
down the steps. I followed the last of them. I thought if I attempted
to escape by the ladders, I might be mistaken for a Spaniard, and shot.
The scene of fighting, bloodshed, and confusion, which met my sight
below, passes all description. The combat was carried on by both sides
with desperation, the chief aim of the Indians being to open the gates
to their friends without, and that of the Spaniards to prevent them. In
the confined space of the passages, the Indians had somewhat the
advantage with their daggers or short swords, and their axes; and they
continued fighting for a minute or more, but had, notwithstanding, made
little progress, when, from the secret passage I have so often
described, a band of half-naked warriors burst into the house, and
uttering loud yells, set upon the Spaniards with the utmost fury.
Several of the officers had been killed or severely wounded.
Terror-stricken at these new opponents, the men gave way; some attempted
to gain the roof, others to burst their way through the doors, though
they must then have fallen into the hands of their enemies; but they had
a new foe to contend with, as relentless as the former.
The fire, which had been smouldering in one of the rooms, burst forth as
the doors were thrown open, and, fanned by the breeze, the fierce flames
crept across the walls and along the rafters and ceiling. As the
impending danger was perceived, many of the combatants ceased their
strife, and victors and vanquished endeavoured to preserve their lives
by flight; but some, worked up to fury, fought desperately on till the
flames actually caught them in their toils, and claimed them for their
victims. Others, with their clothes on fire, Spaniards and Indians
mingled together, were seen rushing forth and calling on their friends
for aid--on their foes for mercy. Mercy the Indians had never received,
nor were they in a temper to grant it. As each Spaniard appeared he was
cut down, or was else driven back into the flames, till, as I afterwards
heard, not one remained alive of all those who had lately garrisoned the
house.
In the meantime I had been watching an opportunity to escape. The
fighting was still continuing with the greatest fury, the combatants
passing before me, as alternately the Spaniards forced their way
forward, or were again driven back by the Indians who poured into the
building, while the raging flames gained possession of it; when, as the
heat became so intense that I could no longer hold my post, and a space
for an instant appearing clear before me, I darted forward amid the
fire, the whistling bullets and the weapons of the combatants. I ran on
in the hopes of reaching one of the doors at the west side of the house;
but I was so blinded and stifled by the smoke, that I could scarcely see
my way, or know what I was about. I fancied that I perceived before me
a number of Indians. They were driving at the point of their spears
several soldiers back into the fire that had reached that part of the
house. With fierce gestures some of them advanced towards me. I tried
to cry out and explain who I was, when, before the words were spoken, I
was sensible of a sharp blow, it seemed on my side. The next instant I
saw axes and swords glittering above my head. I sunk to the ground, and
all consciousness passed from me.