As Atahualpa Had
Considerable Sagacity, He Soon Noticed The Discontent Of The Spaniards,
And Asked Pizarro The Reason.
On being informed, he made answer that they
were in the wrong to complain of the delay, which was not such as to give
any reasonable cause for suspicion.
They ought to consider that Cuzco,
from whence the far greater part of the gold had to be brought, was above
200 _large_ leagues distant from Caxamarca by an extremely difficult road,
by which all the gold had to be carried on the shoulders of the Peruvians,
and that very little time had elapsed for the accomplishment of so
laborious a work. Having thus endeavoured to explain the cause of delay in
payment of the ransom, he requested that they would satisfy themselves on
the subject by inspection that he was actually able to perform his
engagement; after which they would not think much of its being delayed a
month more or less. For this purpose, he proposed that he should depute
two or three of the Spaniards, who might go to Cuzco, having orders from
him to be shewn the royal treasures in that city, of which they would then
be able to bring back certain information to satisfy the rest.
Opinions were much divided among the Spaniards, as to the adoption or
rejection of this proposal. Several considered it is a most dangerous
measure for any person to trust himself in the hand of the Peruvians,
especially to so great a distance. Atahualpa considered this doubt of
safety as very strange, especially as they had him in their hands as an
hostage, together with his wives, children, and brothers. On this,
Hernando de Soto and Pedro de Barco resolved to undertake the journey; and
accordingly by the directions of Atahualpa, they set out in litters, each
of which was carried on the shoulders of two men, with a number of other
Peruvians accompanying them, to serve as reliefs when the others were
tired. They were carried in this manner almost as fast as if they had rode
post; as the litter carriers went along with great swiftness, frequently
relieved by the others, of whom there were fifty or sixty in all.
Several days journey from Caxamarca, Soto and Barco met a party of the
troops of Atahualpa, who were escorting the Inca Huascar as a prisoner.
This unfortunate prince, on learning who they were, requested to have a
conference with them, to which they consented, and in which he was
distinctly informed of all the recent events. On being informed of the
intentions of his imperial majesty Don Carlos, and of Pizarro, who
commanded the Spaniards in his name, to cause impartial justice to be
executed both to the Peruvians and Spaniards, he laid before them a
distinct account of the injustice which he had suffered from his brother
Atahualpa, who not only wished to deprive him of the kingdom, which
belonged to him of right, as the eldest son of the late monarch Huana
Capac, but now kept him a prisoner, with the design of putting him to
death. He urged them to return to their general, and to lay his complaints
before him, requesting that he, who now had both competitors in his power,
and was consequently entire master of the country, would judge between
them, and decree the possession of the empire to him who held the lawful
right of succession. He farther promised, if Pizarro would do this, that
he would not only fulfil all that Atahualpa had promised, which was to
fill the apartment at Caxamarca to a certain height, but he would fill it
with gold to the roof, which would be three times more than Atahualpa had
promised. He assured them that he was better able to do all this, than was
Atahualpa to perform what he had promised; because Atahualpa, to implement
his engagement, would be under the necessity of stripping the temple of
the Sun at Cuzco of all the plates of gold and silver with which it was
lined; whereas he, Huascar, was in possession of all the treasures which
belonged to his father Huana Capac, and the former Incas, by which he was
able to perform what he had now offered, and a great deal more.
All that he alleged was certainly true, as Huascar was in possession of
immense treasures, which he had hidden under ground in some secret place,
unknown to all the world. On this occasion, he had employed many Indians
to transport his wealth into the place of concealment, after which he had
ordered them all to be put to death, that they might not inform any one of
the place. After the Spaniards were entire masters of the country, they
made every possible search after these treasures, and even continue their
search to the present day, digging in every place where they suspect they
may be concealed, but hitherto without being able to find them.
Soto and Barco told Huascar, that it was out of their power to turn back,
being under the necessity of continuing the journey on which they had been
sent by order of their general; but that on their return they would make a
faithful report of all he had said. They accordingly went on their way
towards Cuzco. But this meeting and conference occasioned the death of
Huascar, and the loss to the Spaniards of the vast treasure he had
promised for his liberty and restoration. The captains who had the custody
of Huascar made a report to Atahualpa of all that had passed in the
interview between their prisoner and the Spanish messengers; and Atahualpa
had sufficient sagacity to see, if these matters came to the knowledge of
Pizarro, that he would feel inclined to take part with Huascar, especially
in consideration of the prodigious quantity of gold which had been offered
for his interference. He had remarked the extreme eagerness of the
Spaniards for the possession of gold, and feared that they would deprive
him of the kingdom, and give it his brother, and might put himself to
death, as an unjust usurper of the clear rights of another.
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