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47:.2

Royal

Commentaries.

BooK

I.

·'he fadl~ fufpeéted that the Fury of thof~ Ja,rs would at laft turn to hi~ deíl:ruétion;

che wh1th Feár and Appreheníion was mcreafed by the Oracles, whteh were now

become íilent to all his Qi.efüons and Demands, ánd by che reports which che

Jndimú

gave him ofnew Stars, and Comecs, whidi appeared, ali which, in times

of lefs Extremicy than the prefent, were evei: interpr~ted as bad Omens, and fig–

nals, and, according

to

their fuperflitious Obfervations, were eíl:eemed to por-

tend útter Deíl:tuétion and Ruine.

·

Bue thac which above all things appeared fatal

t0

him, was a certain greac Co–

rnee of a dárkifh green colour, little lefs in breadth than the Body of a Man, and

of a yard in length, which íhewed it felf at night, bei'ng much of the fame fize

and íhape as that which appeared befare the Death of his Father

Huayna Capac;

of which when

Atahualp1t

had notice given him, he was extremely troubled, and

defired the

Spaniards

to give him the leave and libercy

to

be broughc forch, thac he

might fee it wich bis own Eyes; which when he had done, he was fo íl:ruck wich

fadnefs and melancholy, thac, as formerly, he became fallen and íilenc, and would

emertain no converfe with any Perfon whatfoever; che reafon of which, when

Pifarro

had preífed very earneíl:ly to know,

Atahualpa

to fatisfie him gave him this

Anfwer.

Apu,

faid he, ( which is General)

J

am now af{ured that the time

of

"!Y

Death approaches, being certijied thereof by the appeard't1ce

ef

thú Comet, for that another

of

the

li/es

nature with thú fhewed it

felf

not many days before the death

of

my Father; and

in regard that fuch Prodigies in the Heavens do always precede the Death of Kings, and por–

tend nothing b11t Calamities, and the Subverjion of Empires, I cannot but imagine my

felf

concerne

d, being 'to leave my Kingdoms before

1

have enjoyed them.

Jndeed when

I

faw

m.J

felf.fir.ft

in Chains,

I

thought there would

be

little di.ftance bctween

my

Jmprifonment and

my Grav

e, of which

I

am now ful!J certified by thú Comet; and now

1

have givenyou the

real Caufe of thú my fadnefs.

The Governour,

to

comfort him, bid him be of good courage, and noc to

truíl: or confide in fuch fignals,

to

which no Credic was to be given; for that on

the-contrary he mighc íhortly expeét to be freed from his imprifonment, and refio–

red to 'his Kingdom. Howfoever

Arahualpa.,

whofe Faich was placed in che

fu–

períl:ition of

his

Gentilifm, g:ive no belief

to

che aílurance of

Pifarro,

bue remai–

ned in his Dumps, and difconfolate as befare.'

Peter 'de Ciefa.,

in the

6

S'th Chap–

ter

o'f

his Book, mentions che fame concerning this Cornee , and tells us how

fu–

períl:itious thofe

Jndians

were in thefe Afhological Obfervations.

Atahualpa.

giving entire credic to thefe Prefages, wholly funk in his Courage,

and defpaired of his Libercy, not being able to pat che choughcs of Deach out of

his mind; th~ which accor?ingly happe~ed fifteen days afcer the appearance ofche

Comer, as

C,efa

confirms m che aforeírud Chaptet'.

CH A P.