Several days journey from Caxamarca, Soto and Barco met a party of the troops of Atahualpa, who were escorting the Inca Huascar as a prisoner. This unfortunate prince, on learning who they were, requested to have a conference with them, to which they consented, and in which he was distinctly informed of all the recent events. On being informed of the intentions of his imperial majesty Don Carlos, and of Pizarro, who commanded the Spaniards in his name, to cause impartial justice to be executed both to the Peruvians and Spaniards, he laid before them a distinct account of the injustice which he had suffered from his brother Atahualpa, who not only wished to deprive him of the kingdom, which belonged to him of right, as the eldest son of the late monarch Huana Capac, but now kept him a prisoner, with the design of putting him to death. He urged them to return to their general, and to lay his complaints before him, requesting that he, who now had both competitors in his power, and was consequently entire master of the country, would judge between them, and decree the possession of the empire to him who held the lawful right of succession. He farther promised, if Pizarro would do this, that he would not only fulfil all that Atahualpa had promised, which was to fill the apartment at Caxamarca to a certain height, but he would fill it with gold to the roof, which would be three times more than Atahualpa had promised. He assured them that he was better able to do all this, than was Atahualpa to perform what he had promised; because Atahualpa, to implement his engagement, would be under the necessity of stripping the temple of the Sun at Cuzco of all the plates of gold and silver with which it was lined; whereas he, Huascar, was in possession of all the treasures which belonged to his father Huana Capac, and the former Incas, by which he was able to perform what he had now offered, and a great deal more.
All that he alleged was certainly true, as Huascar was in possession of immense treasures, which he had hidden under ground in some secret place, unknown to all the world. On this occasion, he had employed many Indians to transport his wealth into the place of concealment, after which he had ordered them all to be put to death, that they might not inform any one of the place. After the Spaniards were entire masters of the country, they made every possible search after these treasures, and even continue their search to the present day, digging in every place where they suspect they may be concealed, but hitherto without being able to find them.
Soto and Barco told Huascar, that it was out of their power to turn back, being under the necessity of continuing the journey on which they had been sent by order of their general; but that on their return they would make a faithful report of all he had said. They accordingly went on their way towards Cuzco. But this meeting and conference occasioned the death of Huascar, and the loss to the Spaniards of the vast treasure he had promised for his liberty and restoration. The captains who had the custody of Huascar made a report to Atahualpa of all that had passed in the interview between their prisoner and the Spanish messengers; and Atahualpa had sufficient sagacity to see, if these matters came to the knowledge of Pizarro, that he would feel inclined to take part with Huascar, especially in consideration of the prodigious quantity of gold which had been offered for his interference. He had remarked the extreme eagerness of the Spaniards for the possession of gold, and feared that they would deprive him of the kingdom, and give it his brother, and might put himself to death, as an unjust usurper of the clear rights of another. Being disposed, from these motives, to order his brother Huascar to be put to death, he was only restrained from doing this immediately by one circumstance. He had frequently heard from the Christians, that one of their principal laws, which was most religiously observed, was, that all who were guilty of murder were punished with death, whether the murder were committed by themselves personally, or by others at their instigation. He resolved, therefore, to sound Pizarro, and to discover his sentiments on this subject, which he did with wonderful artifice and dissimulation. One day he pretended to be overcome with extreme grief, weeping and sobbing, and refusing to eat or drink, or to speak with any one. When Pizarro inquired the cause of this distress, he allowed himself to be long intreated before he would give any reason of his sorrow. At length, as if overcome by solicitation, he said, "That he had just received intelligence that one of his officers had put his brother Huascar to death, by which news he was entirely overcome with grief, as he had always entertained the warmest and most respectful affection for him, not only as his eldest brother, but in a great measure as his father and sovereign. That although he had taken Huascar prisoner, he not only had no intention of using him ill in his person, but did not even mean to deprive him of the kingdom: his sole object being to oblige him to give up the possession of the kingdom of Quito, according to the last will of their father, Huana Capac; who had made a conquest of that country, which was beyond the boundary of the hereditary empire of the incas, and which consequently their father had an undoubted right to dispose of in his favour." Pizarro endeavoured to console the pretended affliction of Atahualpa, by assuring him, when peace and good order re-established in the empire, that he would make a strict inquiry into the circumstances of the death of Huascar, and would severely punish all who had participated in the crime.
When Atahualpa found that Pizarro took up this affair with so much coolness and moderation, he resolved to execute his design, and sent immediate orders to his officers who had the custody of Huascar to put him to death. So promptly were these orders obeyed, that it was difficult to ascertain in the sequel whether the excessive grief of Atahualpa was feigned, and whether it preceded or followed the death of his brother Huascar. Most of the soldiers blamed Soto and Barco for this unhappy event: not considering the necessity of every one to obey the orders of their superiors with exactness, according to their instructions, especially in time of war, without assuming the liberty of making any alteration or modification according to circumstances in their own opinion, unless they have express and formal discretionary power.
It was currently reported among the Peruvians, that when Huascar learnt he was to be put to death by order of his brother, he made the following observation: "I have been only a short while sovereign of this country, but my faithless brother, by whose orders I am to die, will not be longer a king than I have been." When the Peruvians soon afterwards saw Atahualpa put to death, conformable to this prediction, they believed Huascar to have been a true son of the sun. It is reported also, that Huascar should have said, when his father Huana Capac took his last leave of him, he foretold "That white men with long beards would soon come into Peru, and advised him to treat them as friends, as they would become masters of the kingdom." Huana Capac may have received some intimation of this future circumstance from the demons; and that the more readily, that Pizarro had been on the coast of Peru before his death, and had even begun to make some conquests.
While Pizarro continued to reside in Caxamarca, he sent out his brother Ferdinand with a party of cavalry to discover the country, who went as far as Pachacamac, about a hundred leagues from Caxamarca. In the district of Huamachucos, Ferdinand met with Hlescas, one of the brothers of Atahualpa, who was escorting a prodigious quantity of gold to Caxamarca, part of the ransom of the captive inca, to the value of two or three millions at the least, without counting an immense quantity of silver163. He continued his journey from Huamachucos to Pachacamac, not far to the south of where Lima now stands, through several difficult and dangerous passes; when he learnt that one of the generals of Atahualpa, named Cilicuchima was stationed with a large army at a place about forty leagues from thence. Ferdinand Pizarro sent a message to the Peruvian general to request that he would come to speak with him; and as Cilicuchima refused, Ferdinand took the resolution to wait upon him in person. This was considered by many as extremely rash and imprudent, to trust himself in the hands of a barbarous and powerful enemy. He was successful however in the attempt, as by various representations and promises, he prevailed on the Peruvian general to dismiss his army, and to go along with him to Caxamarca to wait upon his sovereign Atahualpa. To shorten their journey, they took a very difficult route through mountains covered with snow, where they were in danger of perishing with cold.
163
The sum in the text is quite vaguely expressed; perhaps pieces of eight reals, or dollars. –E.