487 / 1060
BooK
I.
·Royal Com1nentaries.
Atahmdpa
fent for much Gold and Silver for payment of his Ranfon:e, wh!ch
though ainaffed in great quantities, yet
~anted
much of anfing t? the hne wh!ch
was drawn ;
fo
that it [eemed almo!t impoffible
to
comply
with
the prorrufes
which
Atahualpa
had made ;
wh~refor~
the
Sp11niards_
murmured,. and
fa~d,.
That
flnce the Pr
if
oner had not complied with the prom1£es he had given '' 1thm the
time prefixed, they
CQQlcJ
not but
fufl>elt
that thefe delays were made on de–
~n
to aflemble greater ntijDbers of SouJdiers, who might be able to mafier and
kill
them
and then:,
fre~.
and refcue their King. The
Spaniards
being jealous of
fome Cuch project,
~~pea
ed
aogry and difco!ltented;. which
Atahualpa
perceiving
by their
countenance~
for he was very qmck of apprehenfion , demanded the
caufe of that trouble
which
appeared in their faces: which when he had under–
fiood from
Fnmcifco
Pif nrro;
he anfwered, that if they were informed of the
great dillance of the places from
wh~ce
ht was to fetch his Veifels of Gold
and Silver, they would not entertain fuch hard thoughts of jealoufie concerning
his intentions; for .the
~e¥tefr
part o(
his
Ra~foqie
was
to
be brought
fr~m
Co:t–
co, Pachflcamac, f2.!i..Jtu.,
'\qdrfl;veral
otl}.e.r Prov1oces,
the
neareft part o.(which was
Pach1tcamac,
and that was ·at
l~all:
eighcy
Leagues difiant; that
Co:uo
was
t'-'O
hundred Leagues off, and
f2.!!_itu
three hundred ; and that
if
they doubted of the
truth
of what he affirmed, they
mig_ht,
if
they pkafed fend
Spaniards
into
thofe
P.arrs
to
fee. and furvey the Treafure
wh~ch
was there, and in
all
pl~ces
of that
Kingdom; and being fatisfied with
tn~
quantity tbereof, might pay thernfelves
with their own
hands.
Bue the
Inca
perceiving tpat the
Spaniards
doubted of
their fecuricy with thqfe whom he would el!lploy to condutt them to tbefe Trea–
fures ; he told them, thclt whilfi
he
was
irt
Chains~
they were fecure, and needed
not
to
fear or doubt of their
Me~:
UP,O,t,l
which
Hefntrddo
de
Soto,
and
Peter del
Barco,
Native of the Town of
Lohon,
refo1ved to travel as
far
as
Co:tco.
When
·
Atahualpa
underfiood that
Hernando
would leave him , he was much troubled ;
for having been the firfi Chrill:ian he had feen, he entertained a particular kind-
- nefs for nis Perfon, believing that on all occafions and emergencies he' would
prove
his
Friend and Protetl:our. Howfoever, he durft not fay any thing againft
his going
1
left
it
iliould beget a jealoufie, and contradilt the profer he had made,
and whicn the
Spaniards
had accepted: Befides thefe two
Spaniards,
four others
refolved to travel into other Provinces for difcovery of the Treafures which they
yielded ; one therefore defigned for
~itu,
another for
Huaylla&,
another for
Hua–
machucu,
and a fourth for
Sicillapampa;
all which, befides their primary intention
of difcovery, received Infiructions to obferve whether any Levies were making
for refcue of their King
Atahualpa
from his Prifon; but he, poor Man, being far
from fufpecting the Faith and Promifes which the
Spaniards
had given
him,
bufied
his thoughts on no other contrivances, than the ways to amafs fuch
quantiti~
of
Gold and Silver
as
he had bargained with the
Spaniards
for his B.anforne, not
doubting but upon the delivery thereof, to have his Chains and Shackles knocked
off. Upon which fuppofition the
Inca
ordered publick Proclamation
to
be made
in
all his Kingdoms, to receive and treat the
Chriftians~
travelling fingly into re–
mote parts with joy and kind treatment in all places where they iliould arrive :
Io
virtue of which Command from the
Inca,
and out of an opinion which the
Indians
entertained, that the
Spaniards
\~ere
Gods, and Meffengers of the moll:
High God, ( as they themfelves
re~orted
and publllhed in all places ) and were
confirmed in a belief thereof from the aetion of
Peter de Candia,
who killed the
wild Beafis
(as
we have faid) in
Tumpi~,
tihey received them
in
their
Tow~
and Villages witl1 all the honour, joy, and kind treatment that they were able
fo
e~prefs.
They
prefente~
them with Gifts, and fuch curiofities as their Countrey
y1elde~,
_and offered Sacrifices to them ; for out of their abundant firnplicity and
ruperfht1on they ell:eerned of the
Spaniards,
as Gods : And though they were not
1gnorantof the
g~eat
£laughter they had committed upon the
Indians
in
Caffemarc'a,
and
~n
_thofe which endeavoured to make their efcape, yet fiill they maintained
an op1mon,. that they were Gods, but cruel and terrible, and fucn as were to be
appeafed w_1th Sacrifices; and though thefe angry Deities were never
to
be
pe:fuaded mto that gentle
~food
of doing good to them, yet perhapi; they
might be atoned , and refiramed from doing them farther mifchiefs.
Hen1t1ndo
I;..
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