495 / 1060
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f
I•
BeoK
I.
Royal Commentarie.f.
·'
CH AP.
XtXXIIt
'
.
Of the Suhtilty
of
Atahualpa,
and the Death
of
the King
Huafcar Inca.
. ·
'Avguftin
de
Carate
having related the Difcourfe which
8!'afoar Inca
had enter-
tained
with
Hernando
de
Soto,
and
Pedro del
B11rco,
(which was the fame that
we have
already related) .
and
hovv they had
left
him
in
a fad and def
p~g
con–
dition, he
farther proceeds
in
the forth Chapter
of
his
fecond Book
m
thiS
man·
ner.
.
" And
Co
(fays he) they proceeded on
their
Journey, which
was
the
caufe
of
" the Death
of
Huafcar,
and the lofS ofall that Gold which he had promifed;
for
" the
Captains to whofe Cufiody he was committed,
immedi~tely
gave intelli–
" gence
to
Atabaliba
by the
Poft,
of
all
that had paffed; which wlien he had
" well confidered, and that
if
once the lnjuffice whlch he had done to his Bro–
" ther
il10uld
come
to
the knowledge of the
Spanijh
Governour, together with
" the
Promifes and Intimation which
H111ifcar
had given of a greater abundance of
" Gold than he could engage for; he greatly feared that his offers would
be
fo
" prevalent
with the Chrifiians, (whom he obferved to be covetous and thirfiy
a
of
Gold,)
tha
c
they would not onely take the Kingdom from
him,
and
tranf–
" fer
it
to his
Brother, but, to
free
themfelves from
all
other troubles of comped–
" tion might
alfo deprive
him
of
his
Life,
for which they had fo jufi:
an
occafion
" on ilie fcore
of
his
Brother, whofe Kingdom he had craiteroufly ufurped, with
" the Death
and Slaughter of
all
his
Kindred ;
for
which reafon he refolved to
" kill
Huafaar:
But
in
regard he feared to commit
chat
Murther, becaufe he had
'' heard the
Chriftians frequently fay, that one of their principal Laws was, That
-
'' he
who fhed Man's Bloud, by Man fhould
his
Blond be fpilt; he therefore,,
" before he would enter upon this Attempt, thought
fit
to
try
the Mind of the
''
Spanifh
Governour, in what manner he would be concerned for an
Aet
of this
'' nature. To perform which with the more Subtilty
~d
Diffimulation,
he
" feigned himfelf one day to be
very
fad and dejeCl:ed, weeping, and
fighing,
and
" refufing
to
eat,
or fpeak. And though the
Spanifh
Governour was very
im–
,, p<?rtunate to know die caufe and reafon of
his
Melancholy, at length with much
'' adoe
he
made Anfwer, that he had received information, how that one of
his
" Optains
had killed his Brother
Huefcar
,
in
the Hands of thofe to whofe
" Cuftody he had committed him; the which he deeply refenced, for that he
" was his Elder Brother, and his Father; and though he detained him a Prifo–
" oer, and under refiraint , yet it was not with any intention
to
doe him hurt
,'' but onely to fecure
him
in fuch a capacity, as might difenable him
fro~
" making any Attempts on
his
Kingdom of
f2.t!.itu,
which did not at all
a~
" pertain unto
him;
for that Province having been obtained by his Father's Con–
,, quells, was conferred and bequeathed by Tefiament to himfelf, being no part
" of the Inheritance which belonged to the Elder Son.
In
Anfiver hereunto the
;; Govemour bid him be of good
ch~ar
and comfort, for that Death was natural
and common to all ; and that
fo
foon as the Countrey was quiet and fettled, he
;; would enquire
i~to
this
Murt~er,
and
~unifh
thofe wh<? !hould be found.guilty
" of that great Cnme.
Atabalsba
obfe~vm~
that MarqulS
Pif
arro
was
little
con–
" terned for the rr:atter, refol':ed
t~
kill his Brother., a?d accordingly his Com-
mands were put mto Execution
wHh
fuch fpeed, that
it
was hard
to
dHl:inguifh
" whether
Huafcar
was put to Death before or after
tl1e
time that he
tefi:ified
his
::
Sorro~
in
prefe~ce
of
Pifarro.
The fault of this unhappy accident is
common–
ly ob1eeted agamfr
Hernando de Soto,
and
Pedro del Barco·
for that they being
~'
Souldie.rs,ought
not
to have been ignorant of the Duty
~nd
Refpeet
they m-ve
'~
to the Commands
of
their General
1
which are not
co
be difpenfed with on any
pretence