That He Having Been Conquered And Taken Prisoner, Atahualpa Held Himself As Legitimate Sovereign, And Could Not Conceive How St Peter Could Pretend To Give It Away To Any One, Without The Knowledge And Consent Of Him To Whom It Belonged.

As for Jesus Christ, who he said had created heaven and earth and man and all other things, he

Knew nothing of all this, believing that the sun his father was the creator of all, whom he and his nation venerated as a god, worshipping likewise the earth as the mother of all things, and the _guacas_ as subordinate divinities, and that Pachacama was the supreme ruler and creator of all things. As for what he had said of the king of Spain, he knew nothing at all about the matter, never having seen him." At the last, he asked the bishop where he had learnt all those things which he had been telling him. Valverde answered him that all these things were contained in the book which he held in his hand, which was the word of God. Atahualpa asked it from him, opened the book turning over its leaves, saying that it said nothing to him, and threw it on the ground. The bishop then turning to the Spaniards, called out, "To arms! to arms! Christians: The word of God is insulted."

Pizarro being of opinion that he would be easily destroyed if he waited for the attack of the Peruvians, immediately ordered his soldiers to advance to the charge, sending word to his brothers and the other officers who commanded the cavalry to execute the orders which they had already received. He likewise ordered the artillery and the crossbows to commence firing upon the Indians, on which the cavalry, as had been concerted, sallied forth and charged through among the Indians in three separate bodies; while he moved forwards at the head of the infantry, pushing directly for the litter in which Atahualpa was carried, the bearers of which they began to slay, while others pressed on to supply their places. As Pizarro was convinced that he and his people would be infallibly destroyed if the battle remained for any length of time undecided, the loss of one soldier being of infinitely worse consequence to him than the destruction of hundreds was to the enemy, and that he gained nothing by the death of thousands of the Peruvians, determined to make every effort to gain possession of Atahualpa, for which purpose he cut his way up to the litter in which he was carried; and seizing him by his long hair dragged him from his seat to the ground. In doing this, as several of his soldiers were making cuts with their swords against the golden litter, one of their swords glancing off wounded Pizarro in the hand. Paying no attention to this wound, he held fast his rich prize, in spite of the endeavours of multitudes of Indians to rescue their sovereign, who were all either killed or driven away, and at length secured Atahualpa as his prisoner.

When the Peruvians saw their sovereign in the hands of the Spaniards, and found themselves assailed in so many places at once by the enemy, especially by the horse, the fury of whose charge they were unable to resist, they threw down their arms and dispersed in every direction, endeavouring to preserve their lives by flight. A prodigious multitude of them being stopped by a corner of the great court or square, pressed with such violence against the wall that a part of it gave way, forming a large breach by which many of them escaped. The cavalry pursued the fugitives in every direction till night, when they returned to quarters[14].

When Ruminagui heard the noise of the artillery, and saw a centinel who had been placed on the top of a rock thrown down by a Spaniard, he concluded that the Spaniards had gained the victory; and was so much alarmed that he marched away with all his men to Quito, never stopping for any time till he got to that city, which is two hundred and fifty leagues from Caxamarca.

Atahualpa being thus made prisoner, and his whole army having taken to flight, the Spaniards went next morning to pillage his camp, where they found a prodigious quantity of gold and silver vessels, excessively rich tents, stuffs, vestments, and many other articles of immense value. The gold plate alone which was carried along with the army for the use of Atahualpa exceeded the value of 60,000 pistoles[15]. Above 5000 women who were found in the camp of the enemy voluntarily surrendered themselves to the Spaniards.

The captive Atahualpa now made submissive application to Pizarro, earnestly intreating to be well used, and made offer for his ransom to deliver a quantity of gold that should fill a large chamber, besides so large a mass of silver that the Spaniards would be unable to carry the whole away. Pizarro was astonished at this magnificent offer, which he could hardly credit, yet promised the fallen monarch that he should be well used, and even engaged to restore his freedom if he made good his offer. Atahualpa was so much pleased with this promise, that he immediately sent numerous messengers through the whole empire, particularly to Cuzco, ordering all the gold and silver that could be procured to be brought to Caxamarca to pay his ransom. He had promised an immense quantity, as he had engaged to fill a long hall in the _tambos_ or palace of Cazamarca as high as he could reach with his hand[16], for which purpose the height was marked by a coloured line drawn round the whole room. Although large quantities of gold and silver arrived every day after this agreement, the Spaniards could not be satisfied that the promise of Atahualpa would ever be fulfilled. They began even to murmur at the delay, alleging that the time which had been fixed by Atahualpa for the accomplishment of his promise was already past; and they alleged that he had fallen upon this scheme on purpose to gain time for the assemblage of a new army, with which to attack them at unawares.

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