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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
concerned, being 'to leave my Kingdoms before
1
have enjoyed them.
Jndeed when
I
faw
m.J
felf.fir.ftin Chains,
I
thought there would
be
little di.ftance bctween
my
Jmprifonment and
my Grave, 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.