Being Disposed,
From These Motives, To Order His Brother Huascar To Be Put To Death, He
Was Only Restrained From Doing This Immediately By One Circumstance.
He
had frequently heard from the Christians, that one of their principal laws,
which was most religiously observed, was, that all who were guilty of
murder were punished with death, whether the murder were committed by
themselves personally, or by others at their instigation.
He resolved,
therefore, to sound Pizarro, and to discover his sentiments on this
subject, which he did with wonderful artifice and dissimulation. One day
he pretended to be overcome with extreme grief, weeping and sobbing, and
refusing to eat or drink, or to speak with any one. When Pizarro inquired
the cause of this distress, he allowed himself to be long intreated before
he would give any reason of his sorrow. At length, as if overcome by
solicitation, he said, "That he had just received intelligence that one of
his officers had put his brother Huascar to death, by which news he was
entirely overcome with grief, as he had always entertained the warmest and
most respectful affection for him, not only as his eldest brother, but in
a great measure as his father and sovereign. That although he had taken
Huascar prisoner, he not only had no intention of using him ill in his
person, but did not even mean to deprive him of the kingdom: his sole
object being to oblige him to give up the possession of the kingdom of
Quito, according to the last will of their father, Huana Capac; who had
made a conquest of that country, which was beyond the boundary of the
hereditary empire of the incas, and which consequently their father had an
undoubted right to dispose of in his favour." Pizarro endeavoured to
console the pretended affliction of Atahualpa, by assuring him, when peace
and good order re-established in the empire, that he would make a strict
inquiry into the circumstances of the death of Huascar, and would severely
punish all who had participated in the crime.
When Atahualpa found that Pizarro took up this affair with so much
coolness and moderation, he resolved to execute his design, and sent
immediate orders to his officers who had the custody of Huascar to put him
to death. So promptly were these orders obeyed, that it was difficult to
ascertain in the sequel whether the excessive grief of Atahualpa was
feigned, and whether it preceded or followed the death of his brother
Huascar. Most of the soldiers blamed Soto and Barco for this unhappy event:
not considering the necessity of every one to obey the orders of their
superiors with exactness, according to their instructions, especially in
time of war, without assuming the liberty of making any alteration or
modification according to circumstances in their own opinion, unless they
have express and formal discretionary power.
It was currently reported among the Peruvians, that when Huascar learnt he
was to be put to death by order of his brother, he made the following
observation: "I have been only a short while sovereign of this country,
but my faithless brother, by whose orders I am to die, will not be longer
a king than I have been." When the Peruvians soon afterwards saw Atahualpa
put to death, conformable to this prediction, they believed Huascar to
have been a true son of the sun. It is reported also, that Huascar should
have said, when his father Huana Capac took his last leave of him, he
foretold "That white men with long beards would soon come into Peru, and
advised him to treat them as friends, as they would become masters of the
kingdom." Huana Capac may have received some intimation of this future
circumstance from the demons; and that the more readily, that Pizarro had
been on the coast of Peru before his death, and had even begun to make
some conquests.
While Pizarro continued to reside in Caxamarca, he sent out his brother
Ferdinand with a party of cavalry to discover the country, who went as far
as Pachacamac, about a hundred leagues from Caxamarca. In the district of
Huamachucos, Ferdinand met with Hlescas, one of the brothers of Atahualpa,
who was escorting a prodigious quantity of gold to Caxamarca, part of the
ransom of the captive inca, to the value of two or three millions at the
least, without counting an immense quantity of silver[17]. He continued
his journey from Huamachucos to Pachacamac, not far to the south of where
Lima now stands, through several difficult and dangerous passes; when he
learnt that one of the generals of Atahualpa, named Cilicuchima was
stationed with a large army at a place about forty leagues from thence.
Ferdinand Pizarro sent a message to the Peruvian general to request that
he would come to speak with him; and as Cilicuchima refused, Ferdinand
took the resolution to wait upon him in person. This was considered by
many as extremely rash and imprudent, to trust himself in the hands of a
barbarous and powerful enemy. He was successful however in the attempt, as
by various representations and promises, he prevailed on the Peruvian
general to dismiss his army, and to go along with him to Caxamarca to
wait upon his sovereign Atahualpa. To shorten their journey, they took a
very difficult route through mountains covered with snow, where they were
in danger of perishing with cold.
On arriving at Caxamarca, before entering into the presence of Atahualpa,
Cilicuchima bared his feet and carried a present to his sovereign after
the custom of the country, and said to him weeping, that if he had been
along with him, the Spaniards should not have been allowed to make him a
prisoner. Atahualpa answered, that his captivity was a punishment from the
gods, whom he had not honoured and respected as he ought to have done; but
that his defeat and capture were chiefly owing to the cowardice and flight
of Ruminagui with his 5000 men, who ought to have succoured him when
attacked by the Spaniards.
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