The Main Body Under His Own
Immediate Command Escorted All The Cattle Which Had Been Collected On The
March, And Great Numbers Of Prisoners, So That His Whole Army Occupied A
Space Of Above Sixty Miles Of Country.
Sotaurco, the commander of the Peruvian vanguard, endeavoured to gain
possession of a defile or pass in the mountains, by which he supposed the
Spaniards intended to march; but Almagro not only prevented the execution
of that project by seizing the pass, but even made Sotaurco prisoner.
From
him Almagro was informed of the order of march observed by Quizquiz, and
determined to make a forced march with all his cavalry to attack him. In
this march, at a steep stoney pass near a river which it was necessary to
pass, most of the horses lost their shoes; and as it was in the night, the
Spaniards had to replace them as well as they could by the light of fires
and candles. Being afraid lest Quizquiz might be informed of their
approach by some of the natives of the country, Almagro continued his
march with all possible expedition, and towards the evening of the second
day of his march he came in sight of the Peruvian camp.
Immediately on seeing the Spaniards, Quizquiz withdrew to some distance
with all the women and people who were unfit for battle, and placed his
troops in a post of very difficult access under the command of _Huaypalca_,
a brother of the late inca Atahualpa.
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