Gold Arrives For The Ransom--Visit To Pachacamac--
Demolition Of The Idol-- The Inca's Favorite General--
The Inca's Life In Confinement--Envoys' Conduct In Cuzco--
Arrival Of Almagro
1533
Several weeks had now passed since Atahuallpa's emissaries had been
despatched for the gold and silver that were to furnish his ransom to the
Spaniards. But the distances were great, and the returns came in slowly.
They consisted, for the most part, of massive pieces of plate, some of
which weighed two or three arrobas,--a Spanish weight of twenty-five
pounds. On some days, articles of the value of thirty or forty thousand
pesos de oro were brought in, and, occasionally, of the value of fifty or
even sixty thousand pesos. The greedy eyes of the Conquerors gloated
on the shining heaps of treasure, which were transported on the shoulders
of the Indian porters, and, after being carefully registered, were placed in
safe deposit under a strong guard. They now began to believe that the
magnificent promises of the Inca would be fulfilled. But, as their avarice
was sharpened by the ravishing display of wealth, such as they had
hardly dared to imagine, they became more craving and impatient. They
made no allowance for the distance and the difficulties of the way, and
loudly inveighed against the tardiness with which the royal commands
were executed. They even suspected Atahuallpa of devising this scheme
only to gain a pretext for communicating with his subjects in distant
places, and of proceeding as dilatorily as possible, in order to secure
time for the execution of his plans. Rumors of a rising among the
Peruvians were circulated, and the Spaniards were in apprehension of
some general and sudden assault on their quarters. Their new
acquisitions gave them additional cause for solicitude; like a miser, they
trembled in the midst of their treasures.1
Pizarro reported to his captive the rumors that were in circulation among
the soldiers, naming, as one of the places pointed out for the rendezvous
of the Indians, the neighboring city of Guamachucho. Atahuallpa
listened with undisguised astonishment, and indignantly repelled the
charge, as false from beginning to end. "No one of my subjects," said
he, "would dare to appear in arms, or to raise his finger, without my
orders. You have me," he continued, "in your power. Is not my life at
your disposal? And what better security can you have for my fidelity?"
He then represented to the Spanish commander that the distances of
many of the places were very great; that to Cuzco, the capital, although a
message might be sent by post, through a succession of couriers, in five
days from Caxamalca, it would require weeks for a porter to travel over
the same ground, with a heavy load on his back. "But that you may be
satisfied I am proceeding in good faith," he added, "I desire you will
send some of your own people to Cuzco. I will give them a safe-
conduct, and, when there, they can superintend the execution of the
commission, and see with their own eyes that no hostile movements are
intended." It was a fair offer, and Pizarro, anxious to get more precise
and authentic information of the state of the country, gladly availed
himself of it.2
Before the departure of these emissaries, the general had despatched his
brother Hernando with about twenty horse and a small body of infantry
to the neighboring town of Guamachucho, in order to reconnoitre the
country, and ascertain if there was any truth in the report of an armed
force having assembled there. Hernando found every thing quiet, and
met with a kind reception from the natives. But before leaving the place,
he received further orders from his brother to continue his march to
Pachacamac, a town situated on the coast, at least a hundred leagues
distant from Caxamalca. It was consecrated at the seat of the great
temple of the deity of that name, whom the Peruvians worshipped as the
Creator of the world. It is said that they found there altars raised to this
god, on their first occupation of the country; and, such was the
veneration in which he was held by the natives, that the Incas, instead of
attempting to abolish his worship, deemed it more prudent to sanction it
conjointly with that of their own deity, the Sun. Side by side, the two
temples rose on the heights that overlooked the city of Pachacamac, and
prospered in the offerings of their respective votaries. "It was a cunning
arrangement," says an ancient writer, "by which the great enemy of man
secured to himself a double harvest of souls." 3
But the temple of Pachacamac continued to maintain its ascendency; and
the oracles, delivered from its dark and mysterious shrine, were held in
no less repute among the natives of Tavantinsuyu, (or "the four quarters
of the world," as Peru under the Incas was called,) than the oracles of
Delphi obtained among the Greeks. Pilgrimages were made to the
hallowed spot from the most distant regions, and the city of Pachacamac
became among the Peruvians what Mecca was among the Mahometans,
or Cholula with the people of Anahuac. The shrine of the deity, enriched
by the tributes of the pilgrims, gradually became one of the most opulent
in the land; and Atahuallpa, anxious to collect his ransom as speedily as
possible, urged Pizarro to send a detachment in that direction, to secure
the treasures before they could be secreted by the priests of the temple.
It was a journey of considerable difficulty. Two thirds of the route lay
along the table-land of the Cordilleras, intersected occasionally by crests
of the mountain range, that imposed no slight impediment to their
progress. Fortunately, much of the way, they had the benefit of the great
road to Cuzco, and "nothing in Christendom," exclaims Hernando
Pizarro, "equals the magnificence of this road across the sierra."4 In
some places, the rocky ridges were so precipitous, that steps were cut in
them for the travellers; and though the sides were protected by heavy
stone balustrades or parapets, it was with the greatest difficulty that the
horses were enabled to scale them. The road was frequently crossed by
streams, over which bridges of wood and sometimes of stone were
thrown; though occasionally, along the declivities of the mountains, the
waters swept down in such furious torrents, that the only method of
passing them was by the swinging bridges of osier, of which, till now, the
Spaniards had had little experience. They were secured on either bank to
heavy buttresses of stone. But as they were originally designed for
nothing heavier than the foot-passenger and the llama, and, as they had
something exceedingly fragile in their appearance, the Spaniards
hesitated to venture on them with their horses. Experience, however,
soon showed they were capable of bearing a much greater weight; and
though the traveller, made giddy by the vibration of the long avenue,
looked with a reeling brain into the torrent that was tumbling at the depth
of a hundred feet or more below him, the whole of the cavalry effected
their passage without an accident. At these bridges, it may be remarked,
they found persons stationed whose business it was to collect toll for the
government from all travellers.5
The Spaniards were amazed by the number as well as magnitude of the
flocks of llamas which they saw browsing on the stunted herbage that
grows in the elevated regions of the Andes. Sometimes they were
gathered in inclosures, but more usually were roaming at large under the
conduct of their Indian shepherds; and the Conquerors now learned, for
the first time, that these animals were tended with as much care, and their
migrations as nicely regulated, as those of the vast flocks of merinos in
their own country.6
The table-land and its declivities were thickly sprinkled with hamlets and
towns, some of them of considerable size; and the country in every
direction bore the marks of a thrifty husbandry. Fields of Indian corn
were to be seen in all its different stages, from the green and tender ear
to the yellow ripeness of harvest time. As they descended into the
valleys and deep ravines that divided the crests of the Cordilleras, they
were surrounded by the vegetation of a warmer climate, which delighted
the eye with the gay livery of a thousand bright colors, and intoxicated
the senses with its perfumes. Everywhere the natural capacities of the
soil were stimulated by a minute system of irrigation, which drew the
fertilizing moisture from every stream and rivulet that rolled down the
declivities of the Andes; while the terraced sides of the mountains were
clothed with gardens and orchards that teemed with fruits of various
latitudes. The Spaniards could not sufficiently admire the industry with
which the natives had availed themselves of the bounty of Nature, or had
supplied the deficiency where she had dealt with a more parsimonious
hand.
Whether from the commands of the Inca, or from the awe which their
achievements had spread throughout the land, the Conquerors were
received, in every place through which they passed, with hospitable
kindness. Lodgings were provided for them, with ample refreshments
from the well-stored magazines, distributed at intervals along the route.
In many of the towns the inhabitants came out to welcome them with
singing and dancing; and, when they resumed their march, a number of
ablebodied porters were furnished to carry forward their baggage.7
At length, after some weeks of travel, severe even with all these
appliances, Hernando Pizarro arrived before the city of Pachacamac. It
was a place of considerable population, and the edifices were, many of
them, substantially built. The temple of the tutelar deity consisted of a
vast stone building, or rather pile of buildings, which, clustering around a
conical hill, had the air of a fortress rather than a religious establishment.
But, though the walls were of stone, the roof was composed of a light
thatch, as usual in countries where rain seldom or never falls, and where
defence, consequently, is wanted chiefly against the rays of the sun.
Presenting himself at the lower entrance of the temple, Hernando Pizarro
was refused admittance by the guardians of the portal. But, exclaiming
that "he had come too far to be stayed by the arm of an Indian priest," he
forced his way into the passage, and, followed by his men, wound up the
gallery which led to an area on the summit of the mount, at one end of
which stood a sort of chapel. This was the sanctuary of the dread deity.
The door was garnished with ornaments of crystal, and with turquoises
and bits of coral.8 Here again the Indians would have dissuaded Pizarro
from violating the consecrated precincts, when, at that moment, the
shock of an earthquake, that made the ancient walls tremble to their
foundation, so alarmed the natives, both those of Pizarro's own company
and the people of the place, that they fled in dismay, nothing doubting
that their incensed deity would bury the invaders under the ruins, or
consume them with his lightnings. But no such terror found its way into
the breast of the Conquerors, who felt that here, at least, they were
fighting the good fight of the Faith.
Tearing open the door, Pizarro and his party entered. But instead of a
hall blazing, as they had fondly imagined, with gold and precious stones,
offerings of the worshippers of Pachacamac, they found themselves in a
small and obscure apartment, or rather den, from the floor and sides of
which steamed up the most offensive odors,--like those of a
slaughterhouse. It was the place of sacrifice. A few pieces of gold and
some emeralds were discovered on the ground, and, as their eyes became
accommodated to the darkness, they discerned in the most retired corner
of the room the figure of the deity. It was an uncouth monster, made of
wood, with the head resembling that of a man. This was the god,
through whose lips Satan had breathed forth the far-famed oracles which
had deluded his Indian votaries! 9
Tearing the idol from its recess, the indignant Spaniards dragged it into
the open air, and there broke it into a hundred fragments. The place was
then purified, and a large cross, made of stone and plaster, was erected
on the spot. In a few years the walls of the temple were pulled down by
the Spanish settlers, who found there a convenient quarry for their own
edifices. But the cross still remained spreading its broad arms over the
ruins. It stood where it was planted in the very heart of the stronghold of
Heathendom; and, while all was in ruins around it, it proclaimed the
permanent triumphs of the Faith.
The simple natives, finding that Heaven had no bolts in store for the
Conquerors, and that their god had no power to prevent the profanation
of his shrine, came in gradually and tendered their homage to the
strangers, whom they now regarded with feelings of superstitious awe.
Pizarro profited by this temper to wean them, if possible, from their
idolatry; and though no preacher himself, as he tells us, he delivered a
discourse as edifying, doubtless, as could be expected from the mouth of
a soldier;10 and, in conclusion, he taught them the sign of the cross, as
an inestimable talisman to secure them against the future machinations of
the Devil.11
But the Spanish commander was not so absorbed in his spiritual labors
as not to have an eye to those temporal concerns for which he came into
this quarter. He now found, to his chagrin, that he had come somewhat
too late; and that the priests of Pachacamac, being advised of his
mission, had secured much the greater part of the gold, and decamped
with it before his arrival. A quantity was afterwards discovered buried in
the grounds adjoining.12 Still the amount obtained was considerable,
falling little short of eighty thousand castellanos, a sum which once
would have been deemed a compensation for greater fatigues than they
had encountered. But the Spaniards had become familiar with gold; and
their imaginations, kindled by the romantic adventures in which they had
of late been engaged, indulged in visions which all the gold of Peru
would scarcely have realized.
One prize, however, Hernando obtained by his expedition, which went
far to console him for the loss of his treasure. While at Pachacamac, he
learned that the Indian commander Challcuchima lay with a large force
in the neighborhood of Xauxa, a town of some strength at a considerable
distance among the mountains. This man, who was nearly related to
Atahuallpa, was his most experienced general, and together with
Quizquiz, now at Cuzco, had achieved those victories at the south which
placed the Inca on the throne. From his birth, his talents, and his large
experience, he was accounted second to no subject in the kingdom.
Pizarro was aware of the importance of securing his person. Finding that
the Indian noble declined to meet him on his return, he determined to
march at once on Xauxa and take the chief in his own quarters. Such a
scheme, considering the enormous disparity of numbers, might seem
desperate even for Spaniards. But success had given them such
confidence, that they hardly condescended to calculate chances.
The road across the mountains presented greater difficulties than those
on the former march. To add to the troubles of the cavalry, the shoes of
their horses were used up, and their hoofs suffered severely on the rough
and stony ground. There was no iron at hand, nothing but gold and
silver. In the present emergency they turned even these to account; and
Pizarro caused the horses of the whole troop to be shod with silver The
work was done by the Indian smiths, and it answered so well, that in this
precious material they found a substitute for iron during the remainder of
the march.13
Xauxa was a large and populous place; though we shall hardly credit the
assertion of the Conquerors, that a hundred thousand persons assembled
habitually in the great square of the city.14 The Peruvian commander
was encamped, it was said, with an army of five-and-thirty thousand men
at only a few miles' distance from the town. With some difficulty he was
persuaded to an interview with Pizarro. The latter addressed him
courteously, and urged his return with him to the Castilian quarters in
Caxamalca, representing it as the command of the Inca. Ever since the
capture of his master, Challcuchima had remained uncertain what course
to take. The capture of the Inca in this sudden and mysterious manner by
a race of beings who seemed to have dropped from the clouds, and that
too in the very hour of his triumph, had entirely bewildered the Peruvian
chief. He had concerted no plan for the rescue of Atahuallpa, nor,
indeed, did he know whether any such movement would be acceptable to
him. He now acquiesced in his commands, and was willing, at all events,
to have a personal interview with his sovereign. Pizarro gained his end
without being obliged to strike a single blow to effect it. The barbarian,
when brought into contact with the white man, would seem to have been
rebuked by his superior genius, in the same manner as the wild animal of
the forest is said to quail before the steady glance of the hunter.
Challcuchima came attended by a numerous retinue. He was borne in his
sedan on the shoulders of his vassals; and, as he accompanied the
Spaniards on their return through the country, received everywhere from
the inhabitants the homage paid only to the favorite of a monarch. Yet
all this pomp vanished on his entering the presence of the Inca, whom he
approached with his feet bare, while a light burden, which he had taken
from one of the attendants, was laid on his back. As he drew near, the
old warrior, raising his hands to heaven, exclaimed,--"Would that I had
been here!--this would not then have happened"; then, kneeling down, he
kissed the hands and feet of his royal master, and bathed them with his
tears. Atahuallpa, on his part, betrayed not the least emotion, and
showed no other sign of satisfaction at the presence of his favorite
counsellor than by simply bidding him welcome. The cold demeanor of
the monarch contrasted strangely with the loyal sensibility of the
subject.15
The rank of the Inca placed him at an immeasurable distance above the
proudest of his vassals; and the Spaniards had repeated occasion to
admire the ascendency which, even in his present fallen fortunes, he
maintained over his people, and the awe with which they approached
him. Pedro Pizarro records an interview, at which he was present,
between Atahuallpa and one of his great nobles, who had obtained leave
to visit some remote part of the country on condition of returning by a
certain day. He was detained somewhat beyond the appointed time, and,
on entering the presence with a small propitiatory gift for his sovereign,
his knees shook so violently, that it seemed, says the chronicler, as if he
would have fallen to the ground. His master, however, received him
kindly, and dismissed him without a word of rebuke.16
Atahuallpa in his confinement continued to receive the same respectful
treatment from the Spaniards as hitherto. They taught him to play with
dice, and the more intricate game of chess, in which the royal captive
became expert, and loved to beguile with it the tedious hours of his
imprisonment. Towards his own people he maintained as far as possible
his wonted state and ceremonial. He was attended by his wives and the
girls of his harem, who, as was customary, waited on him at table and
discharged the other menial offices about his person. A body of Indian
nobles were stationed in the antechamber, but never entered the presence
unbidden; and when they did enter it, they submitted to the same
humiliating ceremonies imposed on the greatest of his subjects. The
service of his table was gold and silver plate. His dress, which he often
changed, was composed of the wool of the vicuna wrought into mantles,
so fine that it had the appearance of silk. He sometimes exchanged these
for a robe made of the skins of bats, as soft and sleek as velvet. Round
his head he wore the llautu, a woollen turban or shawl of the most,
delicate texture, wreathed in folds of various bright colors; and he still
continued to encircle his temples with the borla, the crimson threads of
which, mingled with gold, descended so as partly to conceal his eyes.
The image of royalty had charms for him, when its substance had
departed. No garment or utensil that had once belonged to the Peruvian
sovereign could ever be used by another. When he laid it aside, it was
carefully deposited in a chest, kept for the purpose, and afterwards
burned. It would have been sacrilege to apply to vulgar uses that which
had been consecrated by the touch of the Inca.17
Not long after the arrival of the party from Pachacamac, in the latter part
of May, the three emissaries returned from Cuzco. They had been very
successful in their mission. Owing to the Inca's order, and the awe which
the white men now inspired throughout the country, the Spaniards had
everywhere met with a kind reception. They had been carried on the
shoulders of the natives in the hamacas, or sedans, of the country; and, as
they had travelled all the way to the capital on the great imperial road,
along which relays of Indian carriers were established at stated intervals,
they performed this journey of more than six hundred miles, not only
without inconvenience, but with the most luxurious ease. They passed
through many populous towns, and always found the simple natives
disposed to venerate them as beings of a superior nature. In Cuzco they
were received with public festivities, were sumptuously lodged, and had
every want anticipated by the obsequious devotion of the inhabitants.
Their accounts of the capital confirmed all that Pizarro had before heard
of the wealth and population of the city. Though they had remained
more than a week in this place, the emissaries had not seen the whole of
it. The great temple of the Sun they found literally covered with plates
of gold. They had entered the interior and beheld the royal mummies,
seated each in his gold-embossed chair, and in robes profusely covered
with ornaments. The Spaniards had the grace to respect these, as they
had been previously enjoined by the Inca; but they required that the
plates which garnished the walls should be all removed. The Peruvians
most reluctantly acquiesced in the commands of their sovereign to
desecrate the national temple, which every inhabitant of the city regarded
with peculiar pride and veneration. With less reluctance they assisted the
Conquerors in stripping the ornaments from some of the other edifices,
where the gold, however, being mixed with a large proportion of alloy,
was of much less value.18
The number of plates they tore from the temple of the Sun was seven
hundred; and though of no great thickness, probably, they are compared
in size to the lid of a chest, ten or twelve inches wide.19 A cornice of
pure gold encircled the edifice, but so strongly set in the stone, that it
fortunately defied the efforts of the spoilers. The Spaniards complained
of the want of alacrity shown by the Indians in the work of destruction,
and said that there were other parts of the city containing buildings rich
in gold and silver which they had not been allowed to see. In truth, their
mission, which, at best, was a most ungrateful one, had been rendered
doubly annoying by the manner in which they had executed it. The
emissaries were men of a very low stamp, and, puffed up by the honors
conceded to them by the natives, they looked on themselves as entitled to
these, and condemned the poor Indians as a race immeasurably beneath
the European. They not only showed the most disgusting rapacity, but
treated the highest nobles with wanton insolence. They even went so far,
it is said, as to violate the privacy of the convents, and to outrage the
religious sentiments of the Peruvians by their scandalous amours with the
Virgins of the Sun. The people of Cuzco were so exasperated, that they
would have laid violent hands on them, but for their habitual reverence
for the Inca, in whose name the Spaniards had come there. As it was, the
Indians collected as much gold as was necessary to satisfy their unworthy
visitors, and got rid of them as speedily as possible.20 It was a great
mistake in Pizarro to send such men. There were persons, even in his
company, who, as other occasions showed, had some sense of self-
respect, if not respect for the natives.
The messengers brought with them, besides silver, full two hundred
cargas or loads of gold.21 This was an important accession to the
contributions of Atahuallpa; and, although the treasure was still
considerably below the mark prescribed, the monarch saw with
satisfaction the time drawing nearer for the completion of his ransom.
Not long before this, an event had occurred which changed the condition
of the Spaniards, and had an unfavorable influence on the fortunes of the
Inca. This was the arrival of Almagro at Caxamalca, with a strong
reinforcement. That chief had succeeded, after great efforts, in
equipping three vessels, and assembling a body of one hundred and fifty
men, with which he sailed from Panama, the latter part of the preceding
year. On his voyage, he was joined by a small additional force from
Nicaragua, so that his whole strength amounted to one hundred and fifty
foot and fifty horse, well provided with the munitions of war. His
vessels were steered by the old pilot Ruiz; but after making the Bay of
St. Matthew, he crept slowly along the coast, baffled as usual by winds
and currents, and experiencing all the hardships incident to that
protracted navigation. From some cause or other, he was not so
fortunate as to obtain tidings of Pizarro; and so disheartened were his
followers, most of whom were raw adventurers, that, when arrived at
Puerto Viejo, they proposed to abandon the expedition, and return at
once to Panama. Fortunately, one of the little squadron which Almagro
had sent forward to Tumbez brought intelligence of Pizarro and of the
colony he had planted at San Miguel. Cheered by the tidings, the
cavalier resumed his voyage, and succeeded, at length, towards the close
of December, 1532, in bringing his whole party safe to the Spanish
settlement.
He there received the account of Pizarro's march across the mountains,
his seizure of the Inca, and, soon afterwards, of the enormous ransom
offered for his liberation. Almagro and his companions listened with
undisguised amazement to this account of his associate, and of a change
in his fortunes so rapid and wonderful that it seemed little less than
magic. At the same time, he received a caution from some of the
colonists not to trust himself in the power of Pizarro, who was known to
bear him no good-will.
Not long after Almagro's arrival at San Miguel, advices were sent of it to
Caxamalca, and a private note from his secretary Perez informed Pizarro
that his associate had come with no purpose of cooperating with him, but
with the intention to establish an independent government. Both of the
Spanish captains seem to have been surrounded by mean and turbulent
spirits, who sought to embroil them with each other, trusting, doubtless,
to find their own account in the rupture. For once, however, their
malicious machinations failed.
Pizarro was overjoyed at the arrival of so considerable a reinforcement,
which would enable him to push his fortunes as he had desired, and go
forward with the conquest of the country. He laid little stress on the
secretary's communication, since, whatever might have been Almagro's
original purpose, Pizarro knew that the richness of the vein he had now
opened in the land would be certain to secure his cooperation in working
it. He had the magnanimity, therefore,--for there is something
magnanimous in being able to stifle the suggestions of a petty rivalry in
obedience to sound policy,--to send at once to his ancient comrade, and
invite him, with many assurances of friendship, to Caxamalca. Almagro,
who was of a frank and careless nature, received the communication in
the spirit in which it was made, and, after some necessary delay, directed
his march into the interior. But before leaving San Miguel, having
become acquainted with the treacherous conduct of his secretary, he
recompensed his treason by hanging him on the spot.22
Almagro reached Caxamalca about the middle of February, 1533. The
soldiers of Pizarro came out to welcome their countrymen, and the two
captains embraced each other with every mark of cordial satisfaction.
All past differences were buried in oblivion, and they seemed only
prepared to aid one another in following up the brilliant career now
opened to them in the conquest of an empire.
There was one person in Caxamalca on whom this arrival of the
Spaniards produced a very different impression from that made on their
own countrymen. This was the Inca Atahuallpa. He saw in the new-
comers only a new swarm of locusts to devour his unhappy country; and
he felt, that, with his enemies thus multiplying around him, the chances
were diminished of recovering his freedom, or of maintaining it, if
recovered. A little circumstance, insignificant in itself, but magnified by
superstition into something formidable, occurred at this time to cast an
additional gloom over his situation.
A remarkable appearance, somewhat of the nature of a meteor, or it may
have been a comet, was seen in the heavens by some soldiers and pointed
out to Atahuallpa. He gazed on it with fixed attention for some minutes,
and then exclaimed, with a dejected air, that "a similar sign had been
seen in the skies a short time before the death of his father Huayna
Capac." 23 From this day a sadness seemed to take possession of him,
as he looked with doubt and undefined dread to the future. Thus it is,
that, in seasons of danger, the mind, like the senses, becomes morbidly
acute in its perceptions; and the least departure from the regular course
of nature, that would have passed unheeded in ordinary times, to the
superstitious eye seems pregnant with meaning, as in some way or other
connected with the destiny of the individual.