1049 / 1070
BooK
VIII.
Royal
Commentaries.
1015
what I [ay
i;
nothing but
the Truth:
After which theOfficersof Jultice proceeded
(orward to the place of Execuuon.
As they were entering into che Chic;f
Place, . they were met by greac numbe_rs of wo1;1en of all Ages, amongíl: _which
were _ teve:al ofche B;ood Royal, w_nh the w1v_es and daughters of che
Caciques,
"'.ho
h
ved
in
places ad¡acent _to th~ C1cy ; ali wh1ch cryed ouc ~ich loud Exclama–
t10ns and cryes, accompanied wJtb a flood of
J'
ears, fay~ng, Wherefore,
Inca?
do they carry thee to haye thy Head cut off
(
What Cnrnes what Treafons ·
haíl: thou commicted to cleferve chis ufage
?
Delire che Executi~ner to put us to
Death together with thee, who are thine by ~lood and N ature, and fhould
be much more contented and happy to accompany thee into the other World
than to_ live here Slaves and Servanes to t~e Will and Luft of thy Murderers:
Íheno1fe and outcry was
fo
great, that 1t was feared Jeíl:
fome infurreélion
and out-rage íhould enfue, amongft fu«h a Multitude of People then gathered
together; which was
fo
great, that with chofe who filied the two Places, and the
Streets leading thereunto, and· who were irt Balconies, and lookiog out ac
Windows, chey could noc be counted for
Iefs
than
300
thoufand Souls. This
combufüon caufed the Officers to hafl:en their way unto the Scaflold; where
being come, che _Prince walked
U¡l
the Stairs, with the Friers who affifi:ed at his
Death, and followed by the Executioner with his Faulchion or broad· Sword
drawn in his hand. And now the
Indians
feeing their {!rince
juft
upon che
brink of Death, lamenced with fuch groans arid out-críes as rene the Air, and
filled the place with fuch noife,that nothing el[e could be heard: W herefore the
Prieíl:s who were difcourfing with the Prince, defired him that he would com–
mand the People to be filent, whereupon the
Inca
lifcing up his right Arm with
the Palm of his hand ºI?en, P?inted it t?wards t~e place from whence_the naife
came, and then loured 1t by httle and
httle,
unnl he carne
t<f
refr
1t
on his
right thigh: Which when the
Indians
obferved, their Murmur calmed, and fo
great
a
filence enfued, as
if
there had not been one.Soul alive'within the whole
City. The
Spaniardl,
and the Vice-Kíng, who was then ata Window obfer–
ving thefe feveral paffages, -wondred much to fee the obedience which the
In-
4ians
in
ali
their paffion, fhewed to their dying
Inca,
who received th~
•fl:roke
ofdeath with that undaunted Courage, as the
Incas
and
Jndian
Nobles did ufually
fhew, when they fell into tbe hands of their Enemies, ·and were unhumanely
butchered, and cruelly treated by them, as may appear in our Hiftory of
Flo–
rida,
and other Wars which were carried on in
Chile,
and which now the
Indi–
dian Araucor
ftill
wage with the
Spaniards,
according as chey are de[cribed in
Verfe by Poets who_wrice there?f·
Of
which we have many oth_er examples in
M exico,
as well as
m
Peru,
wh1ch may ferve to demonftrate the Cruelty of the
Spaniards,
and the Conftancy and Bravery of the
Inc,,11 :
Of
which
I
could give
many
infl:ances in my own time, and of my owri knowledge, but l fhall let them
país~ rather than give offence by chis Hiftory.•
Thus did this poor Prince fubmit with gr'eat Courage
to
Death, yet Rích and
H appy, in that he dyed
a
Chriftian; and was much lamented by thofe Religious
Orders,- which affifl:ed him at the Hour and in the Agony of his Death, name–
ly thofe of St.
Francif,
our Lady of
Merceds,
St.
Dominick__,
and
Aug,uftine,
be :
fides a mulcitude of other Prie!ts and Clergyrnen, who bewailed
him
with
much grief and forrow, and faid many Malfes for his Soul: Howfoever they
were much cornforced and edified, to fee with what Patience and magnanimity
he entered on che Scene of Death, and with what Aél:s ofdevotion, like a good
Cbrifl:ian he adored the Images of Chriíl: Our Lord, and of che Virgin his
Mother ~hich the Prieíl:s carried before him. Thus did this
Inca
end his days,
who wa~ ihe lawful Heir to that Empire,
being
defcended by the direét Male–
Line from the firít
Inca Mancó Capac;
which (as Father
Bla1 Va/era
faith) had
concinued
500,
or near
600
years.
This Compaffion and Sorrow was the ge•
rieral fenfe at that tiine of ali the Country
~
as well of
Spaniardr
as
Indiam
:
An·d
tiho' we may beli~ve that t!1e Více-King rriight alfo be in fome m~afur~ affeél:ed
wich chis Paffion, yet he
m1ght
have ocher Reafons of State,fuffioent,
1f
know~
to juftifie this Aél:ion.
The aforefaid Sentence executecl on the good Prince, was feconded by the
8ani!bment of his Sons an.d Kindred, to the City of
Lo1 Reyes,
;md
of thofo
who were born of ·
Jndian
Mot,,hers and
Spanifh
f
athers, into divers pares of
che
N ew and O ld World,
as
before related. Which we have anticipated out of ics
•
due