469 / 1060
BooK
I.
Royal
Comrnentaries.
the Interpreter , ·ere of a contrary fenfe to the matter difcourfed,
w~ch
caufed
the
Inca
to
fay
7bi4
ftamm~ring
Fellow runs from one word to another, wsthout under-
,
ff
anding
and f r;m
one errour
to
another, that
hu
Silence were
hetter than his Words.
Which 'Exp,:e!Iions of che
Jnca
were more fignificanc in the
Indian
than
in the
Spa–
nifh
Lanauage. And
alfo
the Captains and Lords being fenfible of the pefetts
of
the
l1~erµreter,
did
attribute the
ill
Expreffions, and wane of Senfe to his Igno–
rance
and not
co want
ofUnderftanding
in
the Ambaffadours, whom they efiee–
med
f
dr God , and adored chem for fuch, and accordingly the
Inca
returned
this
Anfiver
to the Ambaf!adours.
447
" I
am
rnuch pleafed, (faid he) Divine Lords, that you and your Companions
" are
in
my days come into thefe remote Countries, that
fo
I
might fee thofe
cc
Prophecies and Prognofrications fulfilled which our Ancefl:ours have left
us,
" though
in
reality my Soul hath much more reafon
to
be
fad, when
I
confider
·
" that the end of our Empire approaches , of
which,
according to ancient Pre-
" dietions, your coming is
a
Forerunner, and yet
1
cannot
but
fay
that thefe
'' times are bleffed,
in
which
our God
Piracocha
hath fent fuch happy Guefis,
" which
!hall
transform the State of our Government into
a
better condition, of
" which Change and Alteration we have certain affurance from the Tradition of
" our Ancell:ours, and the Words of the lafr Teftament of our Father
Hna1na
''
Capac;
for
which Reafon, though we had certain Intelligence of your enn·ance
" into our Countrey, and the Fortifications you made
in
it, and of the Slaughter
. " you committed
in
Puna,
Tumpiz:.,
and other parts, yet neither
I,
nor my
Cap–
" tains, have entred into any Confultation, how, or
in
what manner, we might
'' expell you from hence, becaufe we hold and believe, that you are the Sons
of
' ' oar great God
Piracocha,
and Meffengers of the
Pachacamac;
for
which caufe,.
. '' and
in
confirmation
of
what my Father delivered
us,
we have made it a Law,
' " and publifhed it in the Schools of
Caz.co,that none !hall dare to take up Arms
" againft you, or offend you; where
fore you may doe with
us
as you pleafe,
it
'' being Glory fufficient for
us
to
die by your hands, whom we eO:eem the
Di–
'' vine Melfengers ofGod, by whom you muft be fent, confidering the Aetions
" you
have already performed: Onely
I
defire to
be
fatisfied in one doubt, How
'' comes it to pafs, as you fay, that you come to treat ofFriendiliip, and a perpetual
" Peace, in the Name of the two before mentioned Princes, and yet on he other
" fide,
without
fo
much as any Summons, or fending to treat with us, or know our
" Will
or Pleafure towards you, you have committed fuch outrages and flaughters
'' in
the Countries through which you have paifed?
I
conceive that the cwo
" Princes
which
employed you, have given you
fuch
CommHiion co act
with
" fuch feverity
againfl:
us, without any
fault
of ours; .
and I
imagine
that
the 'P11-
"
chac-amac
h:uh fo commanded them to proceed, wherefore
I
fay
again,
Doe
" your pleafure with us ; onely
I
befeech you to have compaffion upon my
poor
'' Relations, whofe Death and Misfortunes will grieve me more than my own.
The
Inca
having_ended
his
Speech,
all
his
Attendants which Rood round about
him,
were fo affetted with
hiS
hfl:
Words, which declared the lofs
of
the
Em-'
pire, that they
ilied
many Tears, with an abundance of Sighs and Groans,
for
what
the
Inca
had now pronounced concerning the Defiruetion of his Empire,
he had
at ocher times formerly repeated. And whereas his Father
Huayna Capac
had ut–
tered this Prophecy, and mentioned the time
to be
fhort, and ready to be fulfilled;
Atahu4!pa
thought of nothing elfe,
bur
conclucfed
the
Fate unavoidable, and the
Decree of the great
P
achacam1tc
not to be refifted ; the which fuperftirious opini–
on being fixed, and impreffed
in
his Mind, was rhe caufe that the
Spaniards
fo
eaGly conguered and fubdued his Coumrey , and debafed his Soul and Spirit
at
the pre.fence of the
Spani11rds;
amongfl: the refl: of the Company, which was pre–
fent wuh
the
Inca,
were two Accomptants, or Hi!l:orians, who with their Knots
m~de
certain
Ciphers,
defcribing or
figuring
all the ·pa!Iages of that Audience,
wnh
the
Words of
HernandrJ de Soto,
and with the
Anf
wer of
th~
Inca
though
all
_was very
ill
e~preifed
by the Interoreter.
'
The. Ambafiadours were much' afionHhed to fee the Lamentations, and hear
the Cnes of
t~e
Lords and Captains there prefent, and yer obferved
a
fteaddinefs
and conftancy m the Countenance
of the
Inca,
and not knowipg che caufo and
reafon