Of All These Different Detachments, Scarcely One Man Escaped, So That Those Who Followed Knew Nothing Of What Happened To Those Who Went Before Them.

The enemy always attacked the Spaniards while engaged in marching through some deep and narrow valley among the mountains,

Occupying both ends of the valley by strong bodies of warriors, and rolling down great stones and masses of rock from the steep and high mountains on both sides of the valley, destroyed our men and horses in a miserable manner, often without fighting. In this way they at different times destroyed more than three hundred soldiers, and made themselves masters of their arms, besides acquiring considerable and valuable plunder in gold and jewels and silk dresses. Not knowing the fate of the former detachments, Francisco de Godoy was sent with a reinforcement of eighty men; but falling in with two of those who had belonged to the detachment under Gaete, who had escaped, he learnt from them what had happened, on which he immediately endeavoured to retreat from the mountain passes, in which he had considerable difficulty, as the Indians had already occupied the defiles in his rear. He made good his retreat however, followed and harassed by the Indians for more than twenty leagues, sometimes attacking him in the rear and at other times in the van, and at length got safe to Lima with much difficulty. About the same time the captain Diego de Aguero arrived at that place with some other Spaniards, who had saved themselves from the Indians, who had endeavoured to massacre them at their country residences.

The marquis sent Pedro de Lerma at the head of eighty cavalry to drive away a numerous army of Peruvian warriors who had invaded the lower country in pursuit of Aguero. Lerma fought against these troops of the Inca a whole day, and at last forced them to take refuge in a strong place among steep rocks, where the Spaniards surrounded them. In this battle, Lerma lost several of his teeth, and several of his men were wounded, but none killed. The Indians were so exceedingly crowded together among the rocks to which they had retired, that they were unable to use their arms, insomuch that the Spaniards might probably have put an end to the war on this occasion, if the marquis had not sent them an order to retire. On seeing the retreat of their enemies, the Indians returned thanks to their gods for their escape from so great danger, and took post on a high mountain near the city of Lima on the other side of the river, whence they harassed the Spaniards by frequent skirmishes and attacks. The commander of these Indians was named Tyzogopangui, who had along with him one of the brothers of the Inca, whom the marquis had sent along with Gaete[10]. While the Peruvians remained in the neighbourhood of Lima, skirmishing every day with the Spaniards, it often happened that the natives who were in the service of the Spaniards, who were called _Yanacones_, went during the day to their friends in the mountains, who gave them provisions, and returned at night to their masters.

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