We found the head quarters of the Inca established in an ancient castle,
built of large hewn stones on the side of a mountain, and which, from
its size and mode of construction, is still one of the wonders of Peru.
Here he held his court, and was treated with all the honours due to a
sovereign prince. I was particularly struck with the amount of
etiquette which was maintained, when I recollected that the Inca himself
had, but a few months before, been living the life of a simple farmer,
as had his chiefs and councillors, and that many of them had indeed been
little better than slaves to the Spaniards. Manco informed me that it
had been resolved to despatch him with a force of ten thousand men to
join a body of the same number under the command of Andres Tupac Amaru,
the young son of the Inca, who was laying siege to Sarata, a large town
not far from the lake of Titicaca; and he begged me to accompany him. I
was sorry to be separated from Ned Gale, but he said that the Inca had
put the guns under his charge, and as they were not to go, he would
stick by them.
I was furnished with a very good horse, and took my place by the side of
Manco. The men being amply supplied with cacao every day, without
apparent fatigue performed forced marches which would have completely
knocked up any European troops. As we advanced, we found that all the
white inhabitants had fled and taken refuge in the town, where it was
said twenty thousand people were collected. My readers may be assured
that my great object was, if possible, to mitigate the horrors which I
dreaded would take place should my Indian friends prove successful. On
our arrival we found the young Andres closely investing the town, the
inhabitants of which were already suffering from famine, though they had
sternly refused to listen to a summons which had been sent in to them to
surrender. They had just before made a sortie, when the Indians had
lost a number of men; but they were, after much desperate fighting,
again compelled to retire within their trenches. The Indians had taken
several prisoners, among whom was a priest; and as soon as we arrived he
was sent in with a second summons, containing offers of peace on such
conditions as might be agreed on between commissioners to be appointed
on both sides. The young general, with Manco and other chiefs, were
standing on a hill overlooking the town when the priest proceeded on his
mission.
"What is proposed to be done if the inhabitants refuse your terms?" I
asked.
"Look there," he replied. "You see that from the river which passes at
a short distance from us, there is a deep ravine leading to the town,
and somewhat lower than its banks. By blocking up the course of the
river, we propose to turn its waters into the ravine, when they will
rush down and speedily flood the ramparts, and wash them away."